Redemption
by cjbenny
Summary: Three brothers traverse the country in search of their family. A young wolf tries to lead his pack to safety. All must survive in a world decimated by war between vampires and werewolves, a world where humans are all but extinct. When their paths meet, they soon discover that their actions will determine the fate of the entire world. Jake and Edward pairing.
1. Home Sweet Home

** This is an original story that uses characters owned by Stephenie Meyer in her Twilight Saga series. Blah blah blah, customary disclaimer obligation. Lord knows if these were my characters, Bella wouldn't even be in the picture.**

** Well, I just watched the last installment of the Twilight series a few days ago, which I have to say I enjoyed more than I thought I would. Now I'm gay and I enjoy me some good old drama, and Twilight (no matter the haters) has always been a guilty pleasure of mine. I know enough lore to get by on a story and that's what I have here today. Again, forgive me for lack of fanfic glossary knowledge, I've never done this before and still new to all this. Not to mention my aversion to social interaction only makes things worse. But anyways, onto the synopsis!**

** A war between vampires and werewolves has decimated the human population, and continues to rage throughout every corner of the planet. One vampire traverses the continent with his brothers in search of their family. A werewolf leads his pack south to find a new home. When these two groups meet, they find themselves key into the outcome of the war. Jacob and Edward slash pairing. There will be other m/m pairings in this, involving pairs that I haven't often seen. I might do small spin-offs on those, but other wise, this Jakeward all the way.**

** Just a final warning, this is a violent and graphic story. There will be blood, profanity, rape, torture, you name it. Thus is the unfortunate reality of war. Thanks for reading this—it's called an author's note right(?)—and please enjoy.**

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"Fuck." Emmett, crude and vulgar as usual. Unfortunately for Edward, he couldn't think of a more apt expression to describe the scene before them. They've stumbled across massacres before, some with staggering body counts and horrific images that would never fade away. But this was beyond anything they've seen.

Strewn about the street were dozens of corpses, mutilated to the point where gender and age were no longer discernible. Limbs were severed, heads were missing, and abdomens torn open with about as much subtlety as a Jack the Ripper victim. Dried streams of blood had long trickled into the sewage drains, painting the concrete in striated patterns of black. As if the visual horror wasn't enough, there was also the godawful stench that saturated the surrounding air. Death, decay, and the stinging bite of ammonia.

Both of them continued further into the neighborhood, eyes scanning every corner and opening for whatever may have cause this. But the entire street was quiet. The only sounds he could hear were crickets and the distant pang of thunder. A storm was coming and that didn't bode well for them.

Emmett stumbled over the body of a young woman whose left arm had been ripped off at the elbow. "Who the hell would do this?"

"I don't know," Edward replied. This slaughter had all the markings of feral wolf. Yet the calculated and flashy setup could have easily been the work of a vampire. Edward ran a hand through is hair, knowing full well that none of it mattered. These people were dead and nothing would bring them back. Emmett was still examining the bodies when Edward tapped him on the shoulder.

"Let's go." Emmett looked at the woman's body one more time before nodding, and they pressed on. By the time they had entered a more deserted stretch of a highway, Edward heard his older brother's familiar boots clacking behind him.

Jasper popped up, hands empty and face stricken with hunger.

"Nothing?" Edward asked. It was a stupid question, but it was almost a habit for him to ask. Anything that could give him a semblance of normality was better than thinking about the apocalypse every minute of the day.

"We have a choice between a rotting deer carcass or a moldy raccoon. I would prefer neither." One of the few things he learned during the past year was how his brothers handled themselves during the end of the world. Jasper took on a very wry sense of humor that bordered on disturbing, while Emmett acted more stupid than usual.

"We need to keep going," Edward said as he moved past Jasper.

But Jasper put a firm hand on his arm, a shaky but clear message. "If I don't get some rest, I will kill whatever living thing crosses our path. Give me time to gain my sanity."

His threat gave Edward pause. Facing of with a famished vampire was almost as bad as fighting a newborn. Add the fact that it was Jasper, someone who could kill pretty much anything that came his way, all Edward could do was relent. He nodded before walking away from the massacre, "But we are not resting anywhere near here."

"I went through an empty house a few miles ahead." The highway they used was blissfully devoid of carnage. There were a few stray cars abandoned in each lane, their engines and interiors long harvested of their parts, but other than that, this granted him a brief moment of peace that he hadn't felt in a long time. Ever since the war hit, reality seemed to have frozen in place. The sounds of humans vanished within a month, leaving behind an unholy silence that no one could ever comprehend.

"Man, when I see Rosie I am going to..." Emmett muttered his inappropriate remark aloud and Jasper stopped in his tracks. Edward closed his eyes before smacking the back of Emmett's head.

"What the fuck man!" Hunger could do a lot of things to one's mind, but he thought Emmett would at least save some brain cells to keep his memory intact. Then again, this _was_ Emmett.

Edward passed a worried glance at Jasper, who still kept quiet. Emmett's eyes widened and suddenly he realized what he said.

"Oh fuck. Jazz, I didn't—"

Jasper ignored him and quickened his pace, forcing both brothers to keep up. "I don't want to talk about it."

Edward locked eyes with his younger brother and mouthed for him to keep quiet. Jasper's hunger was clearly gone, now replaced with an agonized expression teetering between rage and torture. Edward didn't dare look into his thoughts.

"Jazz—" Emmett started again. Edward sighed and decided to stay out of this.

"I said I don't want to talk about it."

"I didn't mean anything, I was just—" Jasper stopped and confronted Emmett face to face.

"Then give me the courtesy of not hearing you defend yourself."

"Dude, will you calm down. She's still alive—"

"For the love of God, just shut the hell up!" Jasper lunged at Emmett and shoved him hard enough that he flew a good ten feet. In a split second, he was back up and snarling like a cornered predator. Edward immediately stepped between them, wishing for once that he had Jasper's power so he could calm this impending explosion.

"The world is dead, our family is split up, not to mention we have no idea where to look for them. We won't get anywhere if you two can't stop fighting every five minutes."

Both Jasper and Emmett stared off, neither side seeming to back down. But to Edward's relief, Emmett raised his hands in surrender. "I'm sorry."

Jasper just huffed and started walking away. Edward followed, while Emmett tailed at a languid pace.

Like he had hoped, the rest of their walk was in stony but comfortable silence. By the time they reached the house Jasper had spoken of, dusk had already descended. Coming with it were the first signs of the storm. The overcast sky had turned to a sinister shade of gray, and a light drizzle began to blanket the forest. He was grateful that they at least had shelter to use for the night. There was a paved gravel road that ran along the forest grounds, but first thing that caught his eyes was the mailbox planted just at the start of that path. It was conspicuous among the rest of the scenery.

The name on the side was Reynolds. Finger-painted, misshapen, and yellow as a sunflower. Two small handprints punctuated both ends. Even though his brothers were already headed towards the house, Edward felt himself fixated on the thing. On how small the handprints were. He barely noticed Jasper walking up beside him.

"They're probably dead Ed," Jasper said with tired nonchalance.

"That makes me feel so much better."

"I'm just sayin', if you were human, would you really want to be alive today?"

"I'd rather be alive now than dead earlier. Discounting the fact that I'm dead already." Edward didn't mean it as a joke, but it came out that way and Jasper couldn't seem to help himself. He chuckled before waving Edward off and heading back to the house. After taking a final glance at the mailbox, Edward did the same.

Well, it wasn't so much a house as it was a high-end cabin. Made from what was likely the surrounding cedar, it was three stories and quite luxurious for something in the middle of the forest. The place reminded him of the Cullen household, and that brought up memories both heartwarming and painful.

Jasper immediately secluded himself to the upper floor, while Emmett plopped down on a sofa in the large living room. Once he was inside, Edward decided that he had nothing better to do, so he wandered about the home and simply studied everything he could.

From the various pictures scattered across the walls and mantels, it was clearly a family of four. The parents, a teenage daughter, and a young son. They were clearly affluent, just a few of the backdrops ranged from the cool summits of mountain resorts, to more sun-soaked tropics. Edward found himself focused particularly on one, where the family was simply laying on the front porch of this very home. A part of him wanted to know if they survived, but another understood the reality. This family was just one of millions that perished.

He traipsed into the kitchen, not surprised when it carried a particularly foul smell. Mold and plenty of things that were sour. Most of the odors came from the fridge or pantries. If there were any positives he could have during this, it was the fact that vampires didn't need food to sustain themselves. If he were a human that came here looking for food, his morale would have sunken to a depressing if not suicidal level.

He peeked back inside the living room and saw Emmett playing solitaire with the pack of cards he had taken during a quick scavenging trip through Seattle. His mind was filled with an assortment of thoughts; some were of Rosalie and Jasper and others about the Volturi. But most of them clearly carried one theme, bitterness.

Edward knew he had to talk to one of his brothers to initiate the apology process. Since Jasper was in need of more help whether he wanted to admit it or not, Edward decided to head upstairs first. Jasper was in a room that obviously belonged to the son, a blue tinged area filled with toys, stuffed animals, and countless video games. Jasper was lying on the small bed, simply staring at the ceiling above.

"Why can't you two just leave me alone?"

Edward didn't answer, he walked forward and took at seat at the edge of the mattress. "She's still alive, you know that right?"

"It doesn't matter if she is or not. They have her, and I'm never gonna see her again." It hurt. It hurt to see one of the strongest people he had ever known so defeated and empty. The Volturi flashed in Edward's thoughts, the cause of all this. Suddenly his sorrow morphed into hatred. They took Alice in exchange for all their lives and used her gift to ensure that nothing could stop them. And they all had those sadistic smiles on their faces.

"We can't do this without you," Edward said with a somber sigh. "Alice wouldn't forgive you if you give up now."

Jasper scoffed. "That's a low blow."

"I'd rather have you angry at me than not with us at all." Jasper fidgeted, clearly uncomfortable with Edward's presence. But luckily, he seemed to ease into a more relaxed mood. He sat up, then gently patted Edward's back.

"Relax, I'm not going anywhere. That idiot wouldn't make it past Oregon without scuffling with something furry."

Edward laughed, actually they both did. It felt...weird. Weird, but good. He coughed to regain some of his composure. "You should talk to him."

"Yeah. I can feel his guilt from here." Jasper slid off the mattress and dusted himself off before heading downstairs. Edward took Jasper's spot on the bed, lying down in the same supine position, crossing his feet at the ankles. He took the time to study the room, everything inside was so innocent and untouched that it was oddly a refreshing place to be in. But still, the idea that this child was the likely meal of some sick monster, for a moment he was grateful he never required sleep. Edward lied down noticed a nearby teddy bear that was lying serenely on the pillow. It was clearly worn, it's fur having turned into a matty texture that was washed too many times. It was even missing an eye. But for just a moment, he could see a young boy loving it with all his heart.

Every time he saw things like these, he asked himself why he was given a chance to continue while so many couldn't. And yet the answer was never clear or if it was, it never satisfied him.

Immortality had always been a curse in his family's eyes. Something as precious as life, now frozen in place for all eternity. Not even the cruelest man deserved such a fate. The three of them had to live in a world with literally nothing left to enjoy and yet they pressed forward, to find Carlisle, Esme, and Rose. Wherever they were.


	2. Predators

**Just a quick note, the vampires in my story are different than Mrs. Meyer's in the sense that they're still flesh. It they are injured, there won't be crystals but instead, flesh and innards. Oh, and as for locations, I like to make things up because I'm not too good with describing them. This is still set in the Pacific northwest, but of course the neighborhoods are all made up. Thanks for reading this, enjoy.**

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Another pulse of thunder tore through the sky, hammering the heavens with fury fitting the apocalypse. Heavy rain and erratic bouts of lightning assaulted his senses, making this shot next to impossible. Trying to predict and aim the trajectory of an arrow in temperate weather was difficult enough, but add hurricane force winds and blinding flashes of light into the mix...well, Jacob had a better chance hitting the moon with a BB gun.

The bloodsucker was hunched over and digging its face into the neck of a young guy. From the way it was growling, Jake already knew it was a feral. The fun little name they gave leeches who had long lost any trace of humanity and succumbed to their thirst. This particular one was a middle aged woman, whose grimy black hair was covering her face like she was an extra from The Ring. She was so focused on her meal that nothing short of a gunshot would alarm her, but then again, the storm already provided them the aural cover.

"What are you waiting for?" Jake closed his eyes, then eased the slack on the string. Paul really didn't understand the concept of stealth, why it hadn't bitten him in the ass yet was still a mystery.

"If I miss this and she happens to have a buddy wandering around that notices, you can have fun dealing with them."

Paul started chuckling in his perfected jock-like tone. "So serious."

Jake ignored him and inhaled. He steadied his breath until everything around him stilled. For just a split second, the noise of the storm silenced, the speed of the wind halted. For just one small moment, he pooled enough concentration to make this count. Then he let go.

The arrow struck right where he wanted it to, straight through the bloodsucker's skull like it was a melon. It let out a soft gurgle before collapsing on top of its meal. As Jake had expected, another one of its pals was nearby and when he saw what happened, he went into full frenzy mode, letting out a banshee-like screech that rivaled the crackling of the thunder. Jake readied another arrow until Paul put a hand on his arm.

"I want this one." Jake rolled his eyes and slid the arrow back into his quiver. Then he simply sat down Indian style and waited for Paul to do his thing. As much as he hated Paul's overeager showboating, that whip of his was a work of engineering wonder and it never got old to see him use it. Interlinked chains laced with barbs, all culminating with a massive five inch blade that could slice through undead flesh like it were butter. Who would've thought having a smithy like James would be the most valuable thing at the end of the world.

Paul swung the whip in a circular motion over his head, inching ever closer to the leech. Then he let go and the center of the chain latched around the vampire's neck. Once that happened, all he needed to do was tug. When he did, the blades cut through the flesh and it was a clean decapitation. Paul looked too overeager for his own good.

"Yeah bitch, take that!" The idiot was doing an epileptic's version of a tribal rain dance, completely oblivious to the pair of red eyes glowing a few yards behind him. Three vampires in a row, talk about lucky.

"Goddamn it Paul." Jake readied another arrow, waiting for just the right moment. The vampire leapt from the bushes, but Jake released the arrow just before it could grab Paul. It pierced through the vamp's chest and it fell to the floor in a crumpled heap. Jake quickly took out his combat knife and ran over to the bodies, cutting off their heads to make sure they wouldn't come back. Then he piled the bodies on top of one another.

"You done?" Jake asked a still stunned Paul.

"...Yeah." Jake looked over at the three bodies, trying to figure out how to get rid of them. Fire wasn't exactly practical when a deluge of water was battering the region.

He looked over at Paul who was focused rather intently on one of the lopped off heads. Jake put his hand in front of Paul's face, then snapped his fingers. "Dig."

Paul was jolted out of his trance. "Excuse me?"

"If you can find a way of getting rid of these, please tell me. Otherwise, dig." Jake undressed and shifted into wolf form. He sauntered over to Paul and growled, which was apparently not enough to get the lazy bastard to transform. So Jake barked, causing Paul to shout back at him.

"All right! I heard you." Once they started digging the hole, it became a pit that was at least twenty feet deep. By the time they finished burying the bodies, the storm had gotten even stronger. Leaves and branches were being lifted and slammed into them. Jake grabbed his bow and quiver with his mouth, while Paul did the same to his whip. Then they made their way back to the hideout.

_ What if they come back to life? _

_ They're not starfish Paul, they don't grow back heads._

_ But, what if their heads reattach to the bodies?_

_ How? By magnets?_

_Damn man, it's a joke. You see, that's the problem with you and your sister. You guys were always either angry or mopey. She never..._

He listened to Paul drone on about Rachel. Even if it was repetitive, Jake enjoyed listening to it. Paul still hadn't accepted her death in its entirety, but talking about her seemed to ease the pain. And for Jake, that was all he could ask for.

The story he told was one Jake had heard a dozen times already. About the time Paul took his sister out on a date to Seattle and how their car stalled in the middle of an intersection. Instead of asking for help, Paul tried to push it himself and ended up spraining his back. Just like that, the whole date was canceled and she berated him the entire way pack to La Push. One of Paul's favorite tales.

_Seriously though, you and Rachel should have learned how to just...chill out_.

_We lived in rain central, there wasn't much of a reason for us to act warm and friendly._

Their banter continued as they ran. It didn't take long to reach the pack's temporary hideout in the large defensible cul-de-sac of Cherry Pine. It was in a gated community that was once filled with soccer moms and white-collar families. Now it was about as lively as a cemetery.

They headed to the place that Sam and Emily chose to stay in, a pink two story house with a large SUV parked in the driveway. Paul shifted first and walked inside the house wet and buck naked. With his eyes trained on the floor and a hand over his disobedient crotch, Jake followed soon after. Sam was in the living room eating his meal, after noticing them he pointed to a pile of clothing on an adjacent sofa. Jake smiled in relief when he slipped on the warm sweatpants and sweater. He made sure to avert his eyes from Paul though.

"How many'd you get?" Sam asked looking up.

"Three," Jake answered. Paul gave a large exaggerated cough to which Jacob rolled his eyes.

"Paul got one, I took out the other two."

"Good job."

"Are the others back yet?"

"Quil and Jared are, but Embry and Seth are still out."

"You think they're okay?" Paul asked.

"I—" Sam was interrupted by a slamming door and footsteps that were shaking the entire household.

"Sam, where the hell are you?" That voice could give children nightmares. Leah.

Sam covered his face with his hands, "Oh God, here we go."

Leah barged into the room, completely ignoring Jake and Paul's presence. "You better make sure he's okay."

"I heard you the first time Leah."

"We already killed most of the bloodsuckers back near in La Push, I still don't see why we had to move from—"

"We were out of resources. Yes, getting eaten by leeches is bad but I don't intend on letting the pack starve to death either."

"Just because Seth can shift doesn't mean he's ready to fight and kill whatever comes our way."

"We don't have a choice. Unless you want me to send the pups into harm's way." Leah was in the wrong and everyone in the room knew it, herself included. But still, Seth was her brother. Ever since their parents were killed in the same raid that took Jake's family, Leah went far beyond the role of overprotective sibling.

"If my brother comes back as one of those bloodsuckers, I will personally castrate you and feed your balls to him." Jake and Paul looked at one another, cringing in amusement. With a huff, she stormed out of the room.

Sam groaned as he plopped back down in the chair. "Wanna know something scary? She would."

"Do you want us to look for them?" Jake asked.

"Yes, take Jared with you. I need Paul and Quil to help the others scavenge near the suburbs." Jake glanced over at Paul who looked both baffled and offended.

"Um, why can't I help?"

"How did you kill the second one?" Sam asked Jake. He didn't answer.

"Uh huh. Paul, you're on scavenge duty."

"But—"

"Do it now." Paul let out a childlike pout before leaving the house. Sam rubbed his forehead, then turned to Jake.

"Keep your head down and don't get trigger-happy."

"Have I ever?"

"Enough times that I'm going to repeat it again, don't get trigger-happy." With a mocking bow, Jake walked back outside to look for Jared. His scent was easy enough to find, the guy was the only person his age who used Old Spice as deodorant. Jake saw his figure pass by a window in the house across from him. When he reached the front door, he knocked, not wanting to disturb Kim who was still dealing with some kind of virus.

The door opened and a very tired Jared greeted him. "Yeah?"

"Sam wants us to look for Seth and Embry."

"Hang on, let me get my gun." This is why Jake always liked working with Jared. No protestations, no complaints. He just did the job and that was true loyalty. Jake waited for a minute or so until Jared returned with his prized Remington. They found it in a military convoy that was abandoned up near Vancouver.

"Is Kim okay?" Jake asked as they pushed past the gates.

"She's feeling better. Brady and Collin are playing monopoly with her."

Jared turned to him with concern. "Are _you_ okay? You look like shit."

"The world has gone to hell, should I be smiling and plucking rainbows out of my ass? No gay pun intended by the way."

"It's Paul isn't it?" Jake didn't reply, most of the pack knew about his feelings for Paul. Hell, even someone as slow as Paul knew, but he never brought it up and that was better for everyone involved.

"I know he's not the brightest bulb in the closet—"

"The gay puns strike again," Jake interrupted.

He managed to pull a smile from Jared lips but he continued. "You should still talk to him about it."

"He's straight."

"The end of the world can do crazy things."

"Yes, that's what I want in a relationship, a guy who'll fuck me just because all females are either dead or taken."

"Better than nothing right?"

"I'm not trying to be a downer here, but how many other gay guys have we run into?"

"What would it hurt to try?"

Jake turned to Jared and gave him a wide if not disarming grin. "Since you're so insistent, maybe you should try me out for a spin."

"Forget I said anything."

"What? I'm not cute?" Jake said as if he were offended.

"It's got nothing to do with cute. I just don't get off on seeing another dude's schlong, not that I have anything wrong with guys who do."

"Being gay is more than just getting off on cock. Are you attracted to any girl just because of her genitalia?"

"Kim is my world but point taken."

"Who would you do, in that end of the world excuse you gave?"

"Come on Jake, I'm practically married."

"If you're comfortable enough with your masculinity, you should be able to answer. What guy in our pack would you do?"

"I don't know, Seth I guess. He's the closest thing to chick." They both looked at one another before breaking out in laughter.

"I can't wait to see his face when he hears that," Jake said trying to catch his breath.

"Where did they go?"

"Oak Creek. It's a few miles east of here." Oak Creek was another community which the affluent called home. It was the very definition of a ghost town. Everything was frozen in place, untouched by anything. There were no people living in any of the dozen houses scattered about the neighborhoods. Jake looked up at the sky, relieved to hear the pelts of thunder moving farther and farther away. Even though the storm had eased, it had done enough to wipe out Seth and Embry's scents, finding them would be impossible if he and Jared didn't split up.

"We need to split up," Jared said when the first house of Oak Creek came into view.

"Where do we meet up?"

"That house right there."

"You know that splitting up would be a bad idea."

"Never stopped us before," Jared answered.

"Which is stupid. We're not white, we should know better."

Boy did that make Jared laugh. But he managed to restrain himself just enough to wave Jake off. Soon he disappeared down an empty street, leaving Jake all alone. He scratched his stubble, then jogged into the neighborhood.

He didn't care what anyone said, this place was creepy. A hundred vampires screeching in the middle of the night could hardly faze him but being in such a silent and empty area like this made his skin tingle. It reminded him of those videos he saw where fake towns were put in the radius of a nuclear bomb detonation. He prayed that he wouldn't find any mannequins, that would be fucking terrifying.

He progressed quietly through each street, hoping to catch some trace of Seth or Embry. But he couldn't find anything. Not even a hint of a smell. What he did notice was Jared's scent getting closer. Sure enough, he popped out of a house and joined Jake at an intersection.

"I got nothing. Where could they have gone?" Jake shrugged his shoulders. This wasn't good. They wouldn't have wandered off without reason, Sam set up specific guidelines on how far they were allowed to venture.

"Do you think, that they might be—" Jake didn't even let Jared finish such a morbid thought.

"We would've heard them howl. Or at least catch the scent of a leech."

"The storm might have washed it away." Everything stopped when a gunshot exploded in the distance. Two more followed.

"What the hell?" Both Jake and Jared broke into full sprint towards the gunshots. It wasn't far, maybe a quarter of a mile away.

"Shit, it's a leech," Jared shouted as he leaped over a log.

Jake sniffed the air and his heart shuddered. "There's three of them."

The forest zipped by his vision in a blur, and more sounds came to fore as they neared the leeches. He heard growling and another series of gunshots. Jake saw a cabin in the distance, and three figures standing just outside.

"Seth," Jared said looking at the sandy-colored wolf who was lying down on its side next to the leeches. _No_. Jake couldn't tell if he was breathing. He could see Embry was still human, but he was on the floor clutching his arm like it had been broken.

"What do we do?" Jared asked in panic. Jake crouched behind a nearby tree, then pulled an arrow from his quiver and readied his bow. Jared looked at him with trepidation before aiming down the sights of his rifle.

Jake tugged the arrow back until the string was squeaking from pressure. "On my count."

"Three." One of the vampires stalked towards Embry as he tried to crawl away.

"Two." Another leech turned to Seth, his eyes glistening with hunger. Jake steadied his aim while he heard Jared cock his gun. Everything went to shit when the last vampire turned towards them, he was a big fucker. It was now or never.

"One!"


	3. Search and Rescue

** Hello all, I can't tell you how and honored and blessed I am to read all these reviews so thanks a bunch. Just a quick note here, I know that Jasper is an empath and can manipulate emotions, but in my story he can do a bit more than that. He can project thoughts and images into other people's heads as well. Anyway, that's it. I had a lot of fun writing this chapter so please enjoy. **

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Edward recoiled when a gunshot crackled behind him. A whistling sound zipped past his ear and struck a nearby tree, its wood splintering from impact. Emmet stood still, eyes focused intently on something deep within the forest. When Edward realized what he was looking at, it was too late. An arrow was already flying straight towards Jasper.

"Jazz!" Emmett shouted, but Jasper was too distracted by the caramel wolf's blood to notice. The arrow pierced through his left calf and he toppled over, screaming in pain. Emmett rushed to help him.

Edward looked back at their attackers, paling when he saw the archer readying another arrow. He wouldn't dare give him the chance. He ran to the injured shifter who was still clutching his arm, and put him in a chokehold.

The shifter was terrified, his panicked and chaotic thoughts slammed into Edward's head, no different from a throbbing migraine. He was begging for his life to be spared, a middle-aged woman being the most prominent image being relayed, Edward could only assume she was the mother. What made everything worse were two distinct sounds that only reminded him on his lack of sustenance. The pounding of the shifter's heartbeat and the surging cascade of his blood fused into a melody that danced inside Edward's ears like a sinful aria. For a moment, he could feel his hunger taking over. But he willed it down and managed to restrain himself.

"Drop your weapons!" he shouted at the hidden assailants. They gave no response. Edward focused as intently as he could to hear their thoughts, but the distance made everything distorted and indecipherable. It was like listening to a radio station through static. He could hear traces of alarm and outrage from two separate individuals, but nothing that could give him leverage.

"I said drop your weapons!" Edward repeated in an even louder voice. He looked over at Emmett and Jasper. The arrow had been removed, but the wound was still dripping with blood. Why wasn't it healing yet?

The shifter in his arms tried to free himself. His fingers were attempting to slip in between his neck and Edward's arm to pry it off, but his grip was unbreakable. At least for anything that wasn't a vampire.

"Please let me go. I have a family and that guy there is my friend," he said looking at the caramel wolf's body. His voice was strained, even wheezing, but Edward made sure that enough air would go through to keep him conscious.

Emmett scoffed. "Like we give a shit. You fire five shots at us and now expect us to pretend that never happened?"

His gaze landed on Edward. "Come on man, just kill him and let's get the other two."

"No one is going to die today." Edward looked at the forest, "As long as you come out!"

"All right, we heard you, just take it easy!" A voice yelled from afar. Both the archer and rifleman stood up from cover and slowly made their approach. The weapons were still in their hands, ready to fire at any moment.

"Put down your weapons," Edward said again.

"Or what?" the archer said trying to appear unfazed. "If we do that, then you can just kill us."

"We were just resting in this home when these two attacked out of nowhere. This whole thing started because of them," Edward explained.

"Just...resting?" The archer said with equal parts sarcasm and incredulity, both of which grated on Edward's patience. He did not have time for games or condescending jackasses right now.

"Look, I don't really care if you believe me or not, but I can only see two outcomes from this if you don't drop your weapons. First one, I kill your friend and you'll shoot us. Problem is, we'll probably survive long enough to kill you and your wingman there. In the second scenario, you fire first but it still ends the same way. Both parties die. If you lower your weapons, you can take these two guys back with you."

"Tell me you're fucking joking," Emmet asked him as he stood up.

Edward ignored his brother, giving every bit of his attention to the archer. "You can go back where you came from and we'll do the same. Whatever happened will be water under the bridge."

"You seem to be forgetting one very important thing about my people leech, we kill things like you. For good reason too, considering this entire shit storm started because of your kind." Edward couldn't help but sneer at his matter-of-fact tone.

"Do you see our eyes?" Edward took a step closer, gauging how much the archer's posture stiffened.

"How many vampires have you seen with these eyes?"

"How the fuck should I know?"

"Each one that you've met and killed had red eyes, didn't they?" Edward sifted through the archer's mind and heard no disagreement. Good, his message was getting through.

"That's because they still feed on human blood. The three of us haven't fed on humans in decades, that's why our eyes aren't red. Your friends barged in and fired at us without warning,e were just defending ourselves."

"This whole speech sounds all well and good, but it means nothing because guess what, I don't give a shit. All I see in front of me are three bloodsuckers that I see no reason not to kill."

"You don't have the luxury of deciding what happens. It's either we all live, or we all die. The ball is in your court."

"Jake," the rifleman said with a timid voice.

Edward could see the inner conflict in Jake's head, a battle between logic and a more primal state of hatred, but Edward felt confident in his reasoning. With obvious and unfeigned reluctance, Jake turned to his partner and shook his head once, "Drop it Jared."

Jake lowered his bow and quiver to the floor, Jared did the same with his gun. Even though Emmett and Jasper were bombarding his head with disagreeing shouts, Edward let go of the human shifter. He ran back to the caramel wolf, who was still unconscious from Emmett's beating. Jake and Jared passed one more studious glance at Edward before checking up on their friends.

"Seth, buddy, you there?" Jake knelt down and ran his hands through the wolf's light brown fur, his face creased with worry. Edward turned to his brothers, both of whom seemed ready to murder him.

"How is he?" Edward asked, eyeing Jasper's bloody leg.

"I just got an arrow shot at me, what do you think?" Jasper responded with a sharp cough. "I hope you know what the hell you're doing Ed."

Edward just sighed, he hoped so too.

"I think he's waking up." One of the wolves said that. Edward observed them from a distance, Seth especially. He was stirring, his wet nose twitching in reaction to something.

Edward shuddered when took a brief glimpse into Seth's mind.

"He smells something," Edward said aloud.

Jake looked back at him and arched his brow, "Pardon?"

"Oh hell," Jasper said with an out of place snicker, he obviously sensed something as well. "It ain't something, it's a lot of things."

"Could you two be any more vague?" Jake said with an exhale.

"He smells more vampires." Edward listened to more of Seth's thoughts. It was pained and confused, but the message was clear. Sure enough, Edward could hear the faint footfalls of several people in the distance.

"How exactly do you know that?" Jake asked.

"I can read minds."

Jake threw his hands up in the air. "Why not? Vampires already take over the world, why not have mind readers exist. Tell me, do your buddies there know how to fly or turn invisible?"

"Keep talking and I can make _you_ disappear just like that," Emmett said with a snap of his fingers. Edward shot him a warning glance, which didn't seem to work this time.

"I can smell them too Jake," Jared said with his nose pointed skyward. "There's a lot."

"They must have heard the gunshots," Edward added.

Jake looked at the scene around him, then threw an invisible punch in the air. "Goddamn it."

He turned to his three friends, huffing with a barely tapered lid on his anger. "Jared, Embry, get Seth inside."

"What?" they asked in unison.

"Get him inside and get ready for whatever comes through the door." They obeyed quickly, each lifting one side of the wolf's body. A pained yelp cut through the air though, and it made Edward's stomach clench. Seth more than likely had broken bones, then again, Emmett did throw him against a tree.

"Would you agree to a temporary truce?" Edward asked Jake.

"Do I have any other choice?"

Edward nodded, then turned to his younger brother. "Emmett, bring Jazz inside."

"I'm fine," Jasper said crossing his arms defiantly.

"You can't fight with a hole in your leg."

"The only reason it happened was because of Robin Hood over there," he said shooting a venomous glare at Jake. The wolf just rolled his eyes.

"You looked like you were about to snack on my friend, so excuse me."

"There is no way I'm missing out on this to watch him," Emmett said.

"I am tired of all this fighting, so just get him the fuck inside now." Both of their jaw's dropped at his outburst, even Edward felt bewildered by it. But his normal restraint was gone, eroded by this entire mess. He was not going to have it end because of petty problems like argumentative siblings. Emmett seemed to relent, and hoisted Jasper onto his shoulder. They both disappeared inside the cabin, giving Edward a modicum of relief.

"Bet this scenario didn't pop up in your head," Jake said picking up his bow and plucking its string.

"Believe me, everything that could have gone wrong for both of us, went wrong. But if you're talking about the fact that I'm fighting alongside a mortal enemy, then no, I wasn't expecting it." Both of them flinched when several high pitched shrieks echoed across the forest floor.

"No one's fighting alongside each other here, I just don't want to die and if not killing you helps me, then it's what I have to do." Could this guy's ego get any bigger? Edward almost regretted indulging him by keeping his mouth shut.

"We're probably going to die aren't we?"

"I'm already dead."

"Ooh, a snarky vampire. Haven't met one of those before."

Edward turned to him, then gave a mere hint of a smile. "Edward."

"Jake," he answered.

"So what happens if we survive this?" he asked Edward with a defeated sigh.

"Then you guys go your way, and we go ours." The footsteps were getting louder. Edward could see figures and shadows darting beyond the trees. They were already analyzing, trying to figure out the best way to attack.

"I call the first one we see." Edward closed his eyes when he heard Emmett jogging towards them. Of course he would leave Jasper on his own for a chance to fight. And he wasn't the only one joining them, Edward saw a large brown wolf lumbering out of the cabin.

"Damn it Jared," Jake said when the wolf traipsed beside him. In a split second, Jake shifted into wolf form and Edward would be lying if he didn't think it was mesmerizing to witness. Jake was far larger than his friend, by a good foot or so in length, and the color of his fur had an elegant russet tone to it.

"Thank God, we don't have to hear him talk any more," Emmett said to Edward with a chortle. Jake growled loudly, and his thoughts proved more than amusing.

Edward leaned over to his brother. "He said to go fuck yourself."

Emmett started laughing, while Jake's wolf wagged its tail.

"Calm down Fido, it was a joke." It didn't take long before a vampire finally showed up. It was a man in his mid-thirties, with a bloodstained denim jacket dangling off of one arm. The moment he saw everyone, he bellowed at the top of his lungs, then broke into a full sprint.

Emmett made the first move, and it was a flashy one. He ran head on towards the vampire and tackled him to the ground. Then Emmett lifted him up by the legs and swung him against a tree trunk. The force of the impact split the vampire in two pieces, his upper torso flying far off into the forest. Emmett dropped the legs with a surprised but hearty laugh.

Jake and Jared took on their own targets, while Edward chased after one that was making its way towards the eastern end of the cabin. He wrapped his fingers around her ponytail, yanked backwards, then locked his arm around the neck. A quick twist to the right and her head ripped right off. The next one was a large brute wearing a security guard outfit. He gunned for Edward, screeching all the way. Just when he was about to brace himself for collision, a gunshot tore through the vampire's eye socket and it flew backwards. Edward looked behind him and saw Jasper leaning outside the second story window with Jared's rifle.

"Haven't used one of these in a while," he said with a delirious smile. Edward gave him a mock salute before returning into the fray.

Edward noticed Jake tearing into the throat of one, oblivious to a vampire bolting right behind him. This was a teenage guy, decked in skinny jeans and a sleeveless white shirt two sizes too big for his body. Edward charged, waiting for the vampire to make its move on Jake. When it leapt, he intercepted it easily. He spun it around, latched his fingers around it's neck and snapped the vertebra in two. It went down with a pained shriek. When Jake saw the body, he barked in what Edward took as approval.

The battle raged for at least ten minutes. Emmett took out a good half dozen, so did Jared and Jake through their teamwork. Edward was lucky enough to have Jasper picking off stragglers no one had noticed. When everything was finished, the floor around them was littered with bodies and appendages, not to mention soaked with a good portion of blood. Edward cringed when he looked down at his blue button up. The entire front was splattered with red, along with muddy brown streaks from the fight.

"That was fucking awesome," Emmett cheered as he slammed his fists together. Jake's wolf walked up to Edward, his once regal coat of fur now matted with dirt, leaves, and of course blood.

_So you can hear me right now_? he asked Edward by thought.

"Yes."

_I would normally shift back into a human by now, but I frankly don't want to do it with you and your friend standing right there_.

"I don't think you have anything to change into," Edward said with a lighthearted smile as he looked down at the shredded pieces of clothing Jake was wearing earlier.

_Were there any clothes in the house_? His tone was of forced nonchalance, but Edward could see—or rather—hear right through it. He was clearly embarrassed. As for why, it was a surprisingly well guarded thought that Edward couldn't seem to break into.

"I would assume so, everything there is untouched. The father's room is on the second floor." Edward didn't know if canines could nod, but he assumed Jake did before barking for Jared to follow him into the cabin.

"Friends already?" Emmett asked, teeth blaring in an excited grin.

"Your bloodlust is incredible," Edward said hoping to change the subject.

"Dude, it's fighting. How many chances do I get to kill things that aren't for food?"

Edward just shook his head. "I'm checking up on Jasper."

The scene inside the cabin was far more serene than outside. Jasper was lying on the sofa, his injured leg dangling off the edge. Embry was sitting cross-legged on the floor next to Seth, his arm held up by a makeshift sling. Jake and Jared came back down the stairs, dressed in clothes that looked completely at odds with what they were wearing before. Lacrosse polo shirts and corduroy pants, it honestly made Edward laugh a little.

"Don't any of you say a word." Edward raised his hands, mocking surrender, before looking at Seth. He was still a wolf and lying on the floor, his breathing clearly labored.

"How is he?" Edward asked in genuine concern.

"Still unconscious. What the hell did you guys do to him?" Jake's anger returned, but it was being held back. Edward thought it better to just let the truth out and not risk the consequences of lying.

"Emmett threw him against a tree." Emmett started whistling innocently, which only seemed to inflame the wolves in the room. Thankfully, Edward felt a pulse of calming warmth flow through him. Jasper was clearly trying to keep things calm, something he should have done a lot earlier. Edward approached Seth, looking at Jake as if to ask for permission. He moved aside without a word. Edward knelt to the ground and placed his palm on Seth's heaving chest. He tried to listen to Seth's thoughts, but they were jumbled and disjointed.

"His heartbeat is still strong. He might have a few broken bones though." Edward backed up so Jake could examine him again.

Jared put a hand on Jake's shoulder. "How are we going to get him home? If his bones are broken, we can't just put him on our backs. You saw how much pain he was in when we were carrying him."

"We can carry him," Edward said without much thought. If the proverbial fecal matter hit the fan, this was it, because both of his brothers looked like they had been slapped.

"What?" Emmett said staring at Edward, searching his eyes for some kind of answer.

"There would be less of a chance of damage if Emmett carried him on his own, not to mention Jasper can dull some of the pain," Edward said to Jake, who seemed both hopeful and suspicious at the offer.

"Fuck that," Emmett replied. Edward gave Jake the one moment sign with his index finger, before shoving Emmett to the other side of the room where Jasper was.

"I am not carrying some mangy dog back to a place with even more mangy dogs."

"You did that to him."

"Uh, because he tried to bite my face off."

"Em—"

"I don't know what made you so buddy buddy with these dogs, but I don't want in on it." Emmett brushed them off and exited the cabin with heavy if not trampling footsteps.

"Edward, a moment please," Jasper said with a breathless groan. He took a seat next to his brother. Jasper was simply gaping at him blankly, Edward didn't know if that was an effect of the wound on his leg which hadn't yet begun the healing process.

"What in hell are you doing?"

"I looked into their thoughts, they're not bad."

"Yeah well neither are we, and yet this happened," he said pointing to his leg.

"How else are they going to get him back?"

"That isn't our problem."

"We have no idea where Carlisle and the others are. What would it hurt, to take an hour to make sure he gets there okay?"

"You're adamant on this aren't you?"

"Yeah."

"Then give me a reason why and maybe I'll understand."

"We've been looking for the others for how long now?"

Jasper's expression changed into something far more serious. "You better not be reconsidering it."

"I'm not. It's just…" Edward looked up at the ceiling, struggling to explain this properly.

"For the last year, I've felt useless. I kept asking myself why I was still alive, or what reason I had for still going on."

"Damn it Edward—"

"Let's just help them. Maybe that'll ease my _un_ease. If this is the end of the world, helping out anyone I can is better than just ensuring my own survival."

"So we're going into the lion's den, so to speak, to help people who tried to kill us? Christ, I always knew you were a goody two shoes but this is just beyond comprehension."

"I'm going to help them, whether you guys want to or not."

Jasper clicked his teeth together, then sat up from his seat. "All right, I'm in. I got nothing to lose and who knows, it should at least be entertaining." With that approval in hand, Edward returned to Jake's company.

"I'll carry him. Jasper is an empath, he should be able to help keep Seth's mind off the pain during the way there."

"Why are you doing this?" Jake asked, his voice filled with skepticism.

"Please let's not start questioning motives, not after what just happened. If either of us wanted the other dead, it would've happened already." Edward was about to pick Seth up until the front door creaked open. Emmett walked back in, his gait more relaxed than earlier. Edward noticed a slight tint of red to his lips, dear God, he did not just feed from another vampire.

"I'll do it, but if I end up as Purina chow, I'm gonna haunt all your asses."

"You're already dead stupid," Jasper said as he rose from the sofa. "And whatever you ingested is going to back up on you, I guarantee that. I tried our people once and I was sick for a week."

"Hey, I've seen how skinny you civil war guys were, these muscles can take a lot more pain than that." Jasper just scoffed dismissively.

"Can you walk?" Edward asked Jasper, he nodded affirmatively. Jake was still stroking Seth's head, and giving him words of comfort.

"Seth? We're gonna carry you now okay, it might hurt a little." Emmett bent down and scooped Seth into his arms, the wolf crying out in pain. For a moment, Edward saw a flash of guilt in Emmett's eyes. He looked over at Jasper to see if he was helping ease the pain, Jasper gave him a tilt of the head as a yes. Edward crossed into Seth's mind, which was suddenly filled with the most joyous of scenes. Sunshine, open fields, singing larks, and...

"A frisbee?" Edward sighed, even when using his powers Jasper couldn't resist cracking a joke. He missed the old semi-brooding and eternally conflicted brother of his.

_What, he's a dog_, Jasper responded in thought.

Edward just leered at him.

_Fine, fine. There, back to boring serenity_.

"Is he okay?" Jake asked, breaking Edward from his staring contest with Jasper.

"He's not thinking about the pain, that's a start." They left the cabin carefully, with Emmett surprisingly watching each step he took. Soon they were move through the forest at a brisk but cautious pace.

"What are we going to do when we get there?" Embry asked aloud.

"Let me handle it," Jake answered firmly.

Edward would periodically peek into Seth's mind to see if things were improving, but what he heard perplexed him. "Peaches?"

"What?" Jake said glancing at Edward.

"Nothing, your friend is thinking about peaches and honey and berries."

"Maybe he's hungry," Jared said.

Jake started walking faster, "We need to get him to Riley, he might be delirious."

"Who's Riley?" Emmett asked.

"A human nurse we found a few weeks ago. He isn't a doctor, but he's better than nothing." By the time they reached the community Jake called home, the storm had all but abated. Small beams of sunlight were peeking through cracks in the clouds, and it was a welcome sight of optimism. It was your everyday suburban to upper-class neighborhood, complete with cookie cutter houses and SUV's in every driveway. Just as they reached the outskirts of the area, Jake stopped everyone.

"They're going to smell you guys and they're gonna be in fight mode, so don't do anything to tick them off." Jake wasn't saying it to anyone in particular, but Edward could feel it pointed at Emmett.

Sure enough, when they were a few feet from the main gate, around a dozen people rushed into the streets to...greet them. None looked happy. Jake pushed through the gate and beckoned them to walk in.

"This should be good," Jasper said.

"Who is this?" A large man asked stepping forward from the crowd.

Jake walked right up to him. "Sam, get everyone to calm down."

"Seth, Seth!" It was a woman's voice screaming his name. She was tall and thin, bearing the same russet skin as the rest of this pack. Her face was wracked with worry though, and when she looked at Emmett and Seth, her reaction only got worse.

"Oh no, oh God," she kept repeating those words as she touched his body.

"What happened?" The leader, Sam, asked as if it were a command.

"We were attacked by a bunch of ferals, these guys helped save us," Jake responded. That one remark startled Edward, it was a blatant lie told with the ease of someone who did it on a constant level. Everyone seemed to believe it because Edward could hear their thoughts of panic subsiding.

"Riley, help him," Sam said to a young man with pale skin. He strode towards them, then pointed to a house at the corner of the street.

"Get him inside that house over there. Embry, you too." Riley said noticing Embry's arm. Emmett and the girl walked towards the house with Embry in tow.

"What's wrong with him?" Riley asked, his eyes focused on Jasper's bloody leg.

He gave Jake yet another scowl. "Legolas there shot an arrow into my leg. And it's not healing."

"I use silver-tipped arrowheads," Jake replied with an apathetic stare.

"Anyone ever tell you how nice a dog collar would look—" Edward clamped a hand over Jasper's mouth.

"I should check up on you too," Riley said, "I'm a nurse."

Jasper tugged Edward's hand off.

"You ever dealt with an undead patient?" Jasper asked in a deadpanned tone.

Riley smiled. "Just dogs. Let's get into my house."

He slung Jasper's arm around his shoulder and they both headed into the same house where Emmett was. Sam shouted for everyone to go back inside their respective homes, there were loud protestations until he repeated it with a commanding shout. Eventually it was just him, Jake, and Edward standing there.

"What the hell were you thinking bringing these people here?"

"I didn't have a choice, if I carried Seth here as a wolf, he would have gotten even more hurt."

He bounced his eyes from Jake to Edward, then back to Jake again. "Why are their eyes like that?"

"We don't feed from humans sir," Edward answered.

Sam pointed an extremely denigrating finger at him, "Once your friend is patched up, I want you to leave here immediately."

"That was our plan," Edward replied, his voice unwavering.

"Keep an eye on him. I'm checking on Seth." When Sam left their presence, Edward simply rubbed a hand against his forehead. Never once did he feel tired as a vampire, until now.

He just watched Jake who was staring at the blank horizon. Edward stood next to him. "You lied."

"What did you want me to say? That you guys broken Embry's arm and nearly killed Seth? They would have slaughtered you before you even blinked."

"I appreciate your concern." They both entered Riley's house, a blue structure that had a humorous red cross hanging from its second floor balcony. Everyone was gathered in the living room, where Seth was lying on a large dinner table. Riley was running his hands all over the wolf's body, examining.

"How is he?" Jake asked out loud.

"His ribs are broken. Might have a punctured lung."

"So what do we do?" the girl asked with concern.

"I-I don't know Leah. If we wait for it to heal in this form, how does it effect his human body?" Riley asked turning to everyone else in the room.

"How would I know?" Leah said with a frustrated groan.

"I'm a fucking nurse in training, not a vet. I don't know how your werewolf crap works okay?"

"That's comforting," Jasper said with a chuckle. He was leaning on a windowsill, simply watching everything like it were a television show. "Now I'm eager to see how you treat me."

"If he shifts back to a human, then I can treat him properly," Riley said.

Leah leaned next to the wolf's face and soothed it with one hand. "Seth, can you hear me? It's Leah. I'm gonna need you to shift back."

Seth responded with a whimper.

"I know it hurts, but you need to do it to get better."

"Jazz, can you help?"

"Everything I do for him is just a momentary distraction to keep his thoughts occupied, if it's painful enough, it won't do much." Jasper looked at Leah, before sighing.

"It'll be better if I have contact." Some of the wolves inside seemed hesitant for him to help, but Leah dispelled their fear by stepping aside. Jasper laid his palm on Seth's head, then closed his eyes.

"Tell him to do it," Jasper said. Leah asked Seth one more time to shift. Everyone in the room seemed to hold their breath, vampires excluded, as Seth began the transformation. It wasn't as quick as when Jake and Jared turned. Seth started whining and howling as bones began to crack into place. Edward's heart sank when a teenage boy looked back at them, bruised and bloodied. Emmett looked even more distressed.

"Fuck," Jake said in horror.

"Oh God, what did they do to you?" Leah cried.

Edward caught Emmett trying to leave the room but he grabbed his arm and held him down. "Don't act out of place."

"He's a fucking kid." There it was. Overwhelming regret. Something he didn't see too often in Emmett's eyes.

"Shit!" Riley said reentering the room.

"What?" Sam asked.

"We're out of pain medication. In fact, we're missing a lot of medical supplies."

"Maybe we can try the hospital again," Leah said toward Sam.

"No."

"Sam—"

"I will not risk the lives of my wolves for a suicide run."

"For God's sake, look at him!"

"What hospital?" Emmett asked out loud. Edward closed his eyes, knowing this was bound to happen.

"Jesus Christ, why is everyone growing a conscience today?" Jasper asked with a groan.

"What hospital?" Emmett repeated.

"A couple of miles up north. There's at least fifty armed people there, two of ours nearly got killed trying to talk with them," Sam explained.

Emmett turned to Riley, who was still visually studying Seth. "What medicine do you need?"

"Whatever you can get, antibiotics, pain medication, bandages, compresses, some suture kits would be good too."

"North right?" Sam nodded. With that, Emmett left the room and hurried back outside. Edward quickly followed.

"Emmett?" he called out, but Emmett continued walking back towards the gate.

Edward cut ahead of him and made him stop. "Damn it Em!"

"I didn't know it was a kid."

"I know you didn't, none of us did." Edward looked back at the neighborhood and sighed. "I'm coming with you."

"So am I," a voice shouted. Both Edward and Emmett noticed Jake jogging towards them.

"Is your Alpha okay with that?" Edward asked.

"He's not my Alpha, so I don't need his permission. Besides, those redneck bastards are hoarding up things there and they need to be taught a lesson. I want in."

"I need to explain things to Jasper, wait for me here." Emmett and Jake both nodded as Edward made his way back to Riley's house. The wolves were still in the living room with Riley and Seth, while Jasper had relocated himself to the kitchen. Edward squirmed when he saw Jasper thawing a large piece of frozen steak over the stove. He was trying to catch the faint remnants of blood into a bowl.

"You better have Jiminy Cricket shoved up both of your asses, otherwise you two aren't my brothers," he said jiggling the raw meat in annoyance.

"We'll be back soon."

"You're leaving me alone in a kennel, with twenty plus wolves teeming with blood. I don't have much self-control left in me. For God's sake, I'm sucking old blood from a piece of frostbitten cow."

"We'll try to get you something to drink." Jasper just waved him off and soon Edward was back in the streets. To his surprise, Jake had changed clothes and was now wearing a simple grey wife beater and some jeans, his bow slung around his body. It fit him. Once Emmett saw him, he headed down the road.

"Why'd you change? I kind of liked that preppy look," Edward said. Jake looked surprised at the compliment, but he didn't say anything. He just started walking faster to catch up with Emmett. Edward smiled to himself when he heard the flattered thought that ran through the wolf's head. A shy Jake, that was far more interesting.


	4. Mutual Benefits

**Hey all! Your reviews are incredible and really keeping me going. Not much of anything to note here, other than this is a Jasper chapter. This story mainly focuses on Edward, but the brothers do get their time in the spotlight so to speak. Anyway, please enjoy.**

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Jasper sulked as he squeezed out the last possible drop of blood from the defrosted steak, watching as the pink liquid dripped into the Mickey Mouse bowl he found in the pantry. This was what he—a goddamn creature of the night—was reduced to, feeding from prepackaged bovine. He sipped the pathetic ounce of juice, before grabbing the disgusting piece of meat and suckling at whatever was left in it. It tasted of plastic, chemicals, and other artificial enhancements. A peculiar thing considering he was in organic loving hippie territory.

"Uh," a voice announced from behind him. Jasper spun his head around and saw the human nurse looking back at him in bewilderment.

Riley put his hands behind his back, then swayed back and forth on the balls of his feet like a little kid pretending that he didn't see. This is just who he needed to treat him, a man-child. "I'm uh, ready to check on your leg."

Jasper's nonfunctioning stomach throbbed in pain yet again. "You wouldn't happen to have any spare blood transfusions would you?"

"Nope, Nosferatu and Dracula picked up the last ones yesterday."

Jasper stood up, tossed the steak into the sink, then wiped the residue on his jeans. "Funny."

"I try," Riley replied with an innocent grin. They both entered the living room, where Seth had been clothed and relocated to a large sofa bed. His sister was kneeling on the floor next to him, keeping vigil and watching in silence. Embry was sitting in a recliner with a book in hand and a new sling around his arm, there was an older woman with him who was assumedly the mother.

All of them seemed oddly comfortable with Jasper's presence, a fact confirmed by the tranquil aura permeating throughout the room. But of course there was an exception and it was the pack leader Sam standing in the corner like a malicious gargoyle. He was radiating so much disdain for Jasper that he felt like a volcano just begging to erupt.

Riley pointed Jasper to an office chair situated next to a makeshift "operating" station, consisting of coffee tables and night stands. Their surfaces were crowded with a variety of medical supplies; scalpels and gauze, ointments and alcohol wipes, but obviously the supplies were scarce. Riley rolled a different chair across from Jasper. He watched in vexation as Riley took a seat, then patted his knee with a smile.

"I hope that means there's something wrong with your knee."

"Nope, I sprained my back a week ago trying to lift one of these guys when they were wolves, so I can't really bend down and treat you that way. So…" Riley tapped his knees again. Jasper looked up in exasperation before lifting his injured leg and laying it on top of Riley's knee. The nurse reached over and rolled the pants legs up, drawing a pained wince from Jasper.

"Damn you're cold," Riley said prodding Jasper's flesh with his too warm of an index finger.

"What did you expect from someone whose internal anatomy hasn't worked in over a century?" Jasper retorted.

Riley chuckled as he grabbed a nearby wash basin and pushed it underneath Jasper's leg. Then he picked up a syringed filled with water and flushed the wound, letting the filth and debris fall into the basin below. As much as he didn't want to admit it, that silver-tipped arrow was an impressive weapon, he hadn't had an actual injury in so long that it was a strangely stimulating experience to see all this happen again. Living in monotony for so long, it never hurt for the unexpected to come visit.

"You guys can't go in shock or get infected right?"

Jasper's eyes narrowed at him. "...Why?"

No verbal reply. Riley jammed a pair of tweezers into the wound.

"Jesus fucking Christ!" Jasper shouted, drawing everyone's attention.

"Sorry," Riley said while clenching his teeth together as he wiggled the tweezers deeper inside, then Jasper heard a distinctive sound. Metal on metal. "There was still a piece of the arrow stuck in there."

Riley pulled out the bloody tweezers and then showed Jasper the metal fragment at the end of it. "See?"

"I can still feel things you idiot."

"Duly noted." Jasper closed his eyes, only to open them again when he felt a pulse of...amusement from across the room. The pack leader was staring at him, not trying very hard to mask a smile.

"You gonna watch me all night warden?" Jasper asked.

Sam just wiped his nose. "You're not going to roam around here unattended, so in layman's terms, yes."

"You can act as emotionless as you want, but I can still sense whatever you're feeling. And right now, it is a potent cocktail of rage and enjoyment. Didn't figure you guys to be the schadenfreude types."

A new face entered the room, with the same Native look as the rest of the wolves, except he had a far stockier build than the others Jasper had seen thus far. He carried a very distinct set of emotions that Jasper could relate with far too easily. Heartache, defeat, and wrath just simmering beneath it all. This guy reeked of despair, and yet he hid it all under a demure expression.

Sam walked over and whispered into the guy's ear, which was stupid, because Jasper could still hear everything.

"Watch him Paul. I'll get someone else to take over at around nine." So Paul was his name.

Jasper returned to Riley, who seemed just about finished with bandaging the injury.

"So how does a human end up with a pack of werewolves?" Jasper asked.

"Oh, it's not just me. James and Victoria are humans too, they're both engineers up from UBC. They're probably working on some new weapon for the guys to try out."

"And you guys just take in stray humans?" Jasper asked, indirectly to Paul who was now within earshot of their conversation.

"Humans aren't a threat to us, you are."

"Remind me again, who occupies that hospital you guys nearly got killed in?" Paul gave him a death glare, before walking back to the other end of the room.

Jasper was drawn back to his leg when Riley patted it with an overeager grin on his face. It was actually quite sad, he was looking at it like he had just painted the goddamn Sistine Chapel.

"Done," he said proudly.

"Great," Jasper said trying to stand up but Riley stopped him.

"Wait! Your leg needs to—"

He ignored Riley and put pressure on the leg, satisfied when he was able to walk without much of a limp. "That piece of the arrowhead was stopping it from healing. Believe me, this'll be good by nighttime. Thanks again doc."

"Nurse, but you're welcome." Jasper made his attempt to leave, guessing full well that Paul wouldn't let him. Sure enough, before he could even exit the living room, the wolf cut in front of him and crossed his arms like a bouncer at a club.

"You aren't allowed to leave here."

"Figures."

"Paul, just let him out. He practically saved Seth and Embry," Leah interjected. If only she knew what really happened, then defending him would be the last thing on her mind. Embry was quiet, expectedly, focusing solely on his book. At least Emmett wasn't here, considering the fact that he was the one who injured both the wolves.

"I don't care," Paul said to her. "I don't need Sam shoving his foot up my ass because I disobeyed him."

"That's a pleasant image," Jasper muttered under a breath.

"Paul, just do it." She repeated it yet again, in a voice that Jasper knew all too well. The female tone that many men feared, himself included.

Paul stared at her for a few seconds, before glancing back at Jasper. "Where are you going?"

"Does it matter? I am just waiting for my brothers to get back. And just a little tidbit of info for the uninformed, I haven't eaten in over a week, so keeping me cooped up in an improvised operating room is just asking for trouble."

"Fine. Let's go leech."

"Keep calling me that and your time with me will be peppered with Old Yeller, Lassie, and Cujo references." Once they stepped outside into the street, twilight had clearly encroached around them. A heavy lavender hue bathed the neighborhood in a warm and loving glow. He felt surprised to even be affected by this image, then again, he never really allowed himself to have many moments of introspection.

The most pleasing sight though, was simple beyond explanation. About two houses away from them were three young children playing in the front yard, oblivious to everything around them. They were all laughing, untainted by reality. It was a rare and fleeting sight. If there was anything that gave Jasper even a momentary glimmer of hope, this was it.

"Eyes off the kids."

"If I wanted to eat one of you, I would have done so already. And believe me, I'd go after the bigger ones considering they'd have more blood. Like you for instance." Paul's nostrils flared and a burst of rage struck Jasper. Wolves, always so easy to provoke.

"You touch me and I'll rip your fucking head off." Jasper didn't respond with any overt reaction, he simply watched as Paul's muscles tensed even further.

"Why don't you just relax?" Jasper cast a large wave of calming energy towards Paul, and suddenly his scowl transitioned into nothing more than a blank stare. It wasn't the improvement Jasper had intended, this guy had some serious issues. Jasper found the answer to what was worse than a infantile doctor like Riley, a bodyguard whose psyche had about as much stability as a house of cards.

He headed to a prominent hill just past the edge of the community. It provided a breathtaking view of the valley a few miles west of here. Thousands of evergreens stretched all the way to the Pacific. Jasper passed a glance behind him, where Paul was simply gazing at everything in silence. Christ, his head was a tangled mess of crippling psychological issues and he was clearly trying to bottle it all up. Now Jasper felt Paul teetering carelessly between anger and depression, with neither side willing to yield.

"What really happened to Seth and Embry?" Paul suddenly asked. Jasper pursed his lips, knowing this question would pop up. Time to put on his imagination/bullshit hat.

"When my brothers and I got there, your friends were already surrounded in the cabin. Edward, the one with the hair, made sure that we helped. We killed a couple of vampires and it pretty much went how you'd expect it to have gone." He didn't see or feel suspicion from Paul, so he felt that was believable enough.

"How does it work?" Paul asked, his voice growing thankfully less hostile by the second.

"How does what work?"

"Your power."

"Why do you want to know?"

"I just wanna know, not many people can do whatever the hell you did for Seth." Considering the fact that some the emotions Paul was discharging could make a clown suicidal, Jasper decided to give him a little bit of a break. He sent out a few different emotions into the wolf, starting off with joy, then relaxation, and finally excitement.

Jasper could hear the thudding tempo of Paul's heartbeat climbing, it was like a martial drumbeat building up to a crescendo. For just a moment, he felt himself nearing into a primal state. But he thought of Edward and Emmett and how they would react should he be stupid enough to traverse down the road of avoidable martyrdom. They would fight to the end for revenge and he couldn't have that. So Jasper eased back until Paul was back to a more pacified mood.

The wolf exhaled, then started laughing like he had been pumped full of adrenaline. "Wow."

"I can make you angry, happy, sad. As long as it's an emotional reaction I can manipulate it."

"That's fucking awesome."

"For the first few days, otherwise it's overrated. It gets worse when I'm around certain events, then things get overwhelming. I start getting dozens of different feelings thrown at me. Funerals especially, God do I hate funerals. By the time everything's finished, I feel like jumping off the nearest overpass."

Jasper took a seat on the grass, talking more about his past while Paul gave him brief glances into his own personal life. But it didn't take much to notice a guarded wall inside that Paul didn't ever seem to venture across.

"Do you think you could help me sleep?" Paul asked. Jasper'd eyes widened, that was a blindsiding question out of the motherfucking blue.

"Excuse me?"

"I'm having trouble sleeping and since you're staying here—"

"Whoa, we aren't staying here. My brothers are just getting yours pals some medicine, and then we're getting the hell out of dodge." Paul got the point quickly and seemed to back off, but not before Jasper felt the guilt slapping at him. Damn it.

"D-don't you have sleeping pills?" Jasper asked, struggling to find a way to make himself feel less than shitty for saying no.

"Would I be asking a vampire for help if I did?" After that awkward exchange, it was nothing but silence for at least another hour or so. By that time, the moon had already arrived with hundreds of yellow stars glittering beside it. Even though Jasper made sure that his attention was focused elsewhere, he noticed Paul's preoccupation with the gold necklace around his neck. There was a heart-shaped locket attached to it, and that was the piece Paul seemed obsessed with. His fingers were repeatedly twirling and fussing over the damn thing that Jasper felt compelled enough to ask.

"Someone special in there?" An immediate hush befell them, and Jasper felt a ripple of pain emanating from Paul. To his surprise, Paul pulled the necklace over his head and handed it to him. Jasper opened the bronze lock and saw a faded black and white photo inside. It was tiny but clear. A woman with raven hair and dark skin, she was beautiful.

"Who is she?" Jasper asked giving back the necklace.

Paul slid it around his neck, still keeping it clutched in one hand. "Rachel, my girlfriend."

"She's very pretty."

"Thanks." Just from his voice, it was clear what happened to Rachel. But Jasper said nothing, allowing Paul to approach this subject at his own pace. Jasper's eyes trained on the North Star, a cheap effort to distract himself. Paul's emotions were intensifying now, so much that they were beginning to bleed into Jasper's head, unwittingly of course.

"She's dead," Paul replied in a tired voice. Jasper didn't give a sorry. He fucking hated sorries, on how empty and scripted they were.

"For what it's worth," Jasper replied while scratching at his chin, "I lost my wife."

Paul looked at him. "How?"

"Bad guys took her. You?"

Paul let out a bitter chuckle. "Same."

"Hey! Paul?" The voice that shouted was unfamiliar, and when Jasper turned around, he was right. It was a new wolf with a bit too much eagerness in his step.

"It's my shift now," he said walking up to them.

"Tell Sam I'll take over for the night." Both Jasper and the wolf looked at Paul in disbelief.

"But—" the new wolf tried to say but Paul cut him off.

"Just do it Quil." Quil cast one long and rather skeptical stare at Jasper before running back to the neighborhood.

Jasper faced Paul, who was still focusing on the valley below with a steely glare. "Uh, why did you say that?"

"Just help me sleep and you can do what you want for the night. Fuck the consequences." He didn't think Sam would be too fond of that assessment.

"You're not afraid of what the big bad wolf will do?"

"He can't do shit. I'm one of his best fighters and he won't risk your brothers getting pissed off by killing you. The most we'll get is a scolding." Paul looked down, his breathing turned ragged.

"I'm just tired of closing my eyes and seeing her staring back at me. And knowing I can't help her, it hurts so fucking much."

Jasper put a steady hand on Paul's shoulder, puzzled but piqued by the warmth seeping into his fingertips. "If push comes to shove, I'll knock you out."

Paul laughed, for the first time since they met, and it was a dulcet tone.

They made their way to Paul's temporary home, one at the end of the street. There was a for sale sign out front, and unsurprisingly when he stepped inside, the place was barren. No furniture or decor, not even light bulbs in the ceiling. There was a sole bed in the master bedroom, but not even a blanket or sheets to cover the mattress. Jasper couldn't help smiling at it all, this was the perfect home for a depressed widower.

He sat on the floor by the wall, then leaned back and crossed his legs. He watched Paul take a seat on the edge of the bed, habitually touching his locket again.

"What makes you sleepy?" Jasper asked.

"Huh?"

"What makes you sleepy? Lambs jumping over fences, the sounds of the ocean, Enya, name something."

"I don't know…"

"Just give me anything."

Paul seemed to be thinking way too hard for this question. "You ever been to the Space Needle?"

"Yeah."

"That's where I was planning on proposing to her." Jasper bit back a sigh out of politeness. Hearing lovesick memories was just something he didn't need right now. But if it got this guy at least a little bit of comfort, then that seemed like a good enough reason to do it. He told Paul to lie down, which he did without protest.

Jasper focused on Paul, then closed his eyes, bringing up images of the ubiquitous tower. He chose a more exciting memory, the first time he visited the site. He pictured the glossy interiors, the views of Seattle, the awe-inspiring height. Then _her_ face came up. She was pointing excitedly at trinkets in the gift shop, then asking a bystander to take a picture of them when she noticed a rainbow in the distance. _Alice_. Jasper's train of thought broke the moment he remembered her smile. Before he even realized it, his fingers were clenched into a fist and digging into the floorboards.

"Who was that?" Paul asked in a confused voice. Shit.

Jasper didn't answer, he ran a hand through his hair and tried to block out her presence. "No one."

"Was that your wife?"

"It doesn't matter." Jasper shut his eyes again, this time flooding Paul with every bit of joy he had left in his body. The wolf gasped as Jasper inundated him with picturesque backdrops, heavenly music, complete and utter bliss. But the more he tried to push her out, the more she came back. It wasn't just the Space Needle anymore. The sound of her laughter, the softness of her skin, the goddamn power her eyes had over him. Each of those memories battered him into submission until he felt like his lungs were seizing.

"Shit," Paul replied with a breathless cry.

Jasper stood up and bolted from the room. He closed his eyes, overloading his head with random chaotic images. On war and murder and hate. Doing anything just to purge her from his mind. He wanted to forget, to no longer dwell on the pain like it was a tether forcing him to this world. He was so tired, tired of everything. When Jasper opened his eyes, he noticed his vision darkening and he would have been lying if he said it wasn't a relief. Maybe it was out of hunger, or perhaps fate finally decided to grant him mercy. Whatever the answer, he didn't care. Once everything started to blur together in one hazy outline, he found himself welcoming it even more.

"Fuck…" he mumbled in an incoherent voice as he slumped to the floor. Before he knew it, everything went black.


	5. No Mercy

** Sorry for the delay guys, had a bit of personal things to deal with this week. Again, thanks to everyone who has left reviews, favorited the story, etc. It all means the world to me. Anyway, please enjoy.**

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Of all the vampires in all the world to wander into his life, it had to be a hot one. Not only that, but if their last few hours were anything to go by, this vampire was more levelheaded and friendly than most of the wolves in his pack. The final nail in Jake's coffin of hormonal insecurities was Edward's...aesthetic features. Eyes gold as a sunset, rigid cheeks and jawlines, and lips that were prime for more than just talking. And then there was this heavenly aroma coming off of him, a floral scent that was definitely not masculine. It wasn't perfume or cologne though, he'd gotten enough whiffs of artificial scents to know the difference, this was an innate and personal scent that made Jake's stomach tremble.

Jake couldn't find much else to do other than ogle Edward since the start of their impromptu journey more than two hours ago. The leech was pacing serenely in front of him like a light-footed doe, his clothes still stained with dried blood and dirt from the battle. And holy hell did that make him look even hotter—

Jake shook out of his trance when he noticed Edward looking back at him. Why was he...oh hell, he forgot the leech could read thoughts.

"I've supported mainly democratic politicians," Edward said calmly. Shit.

Jake looked up at the night sky, hoping his lack of a response would convince Edward to back off on the subject.

"Not to mention I also attended a wedding in California when they struck down the Proposition 8 bill." Jake covered his face with his hands and inhaled. He never blushed, but if he did, his cheeks would be red as a damn tomato right now.

Edward slowed his pace until Jake was right beside him. "I just want you to know that I don't care if you are—"

Jake cut him off. "Okay, how about we never bring this up again."

"You were the one thinking it."

"How the hell did I know you would be sneaking around inside my head."

Edward looked confused. "I thought your kind could communicate telepathically with one another."

"Only when we're wolves, and we still make the effort not to do it because it's _fucking rude_ to intrude in someone's head without permission."

"What are you two going on about?" Emmett asked from up front.

"Nothing," Jake quickly answered. He settled his gaze back on Edward and pointed a finger right at his face, "Stop looking inside my head."

"Can you stop breathing or blinking? I've had this ability for a hundred years, I can't just turn it off like a switch."

"That's not my problem. I've got enough problems to deal with and having a mind-probing vampire doesn't need to be added to that. You want this out in the open, fine, I'm gay. And yeah, I find you…" Jake felt his Adam's apple bobbing up and down as he struggled to find an appropriate word. "Attractive."

Edward's expression didn't stray from its impassive stare, but his posture shifted ever so slightly. For some reason, Jake just felt relieved that he didn't react with any outward disgust. Had he said that to Paul, well, he would never say that to Paul and expect a happy outcome.

"Look," Jake started, "as long as you don't bring it up to me, I won't bring it up to you. Sound good?"

Edward gave him a sympathetic nod. "Yeah."

"You're gay?" Emmett suddenly asked.

"About this hospital," Edward said trying to steer the discussion into more comfortable territory, Jake could only be grateful for it. "Anything we need to know before we get there?"

"Dude, it's cool. I voted for Obama," Emmett said with a sincere grin. Jake almost wished he were talking to a pair of homophobes right now, at least he knew how to react to them. With a fist. Sure, he was gay but he never made it a focal point in conversations, these two assumedly straight vampires were so casual about it that the awkwardness had gone beyond palpable.

"It's called Mercy," Jake said, veering back to Edward's question. "It's not that big, it's the county hospital which for some reason was put in the middle of fucking nowhere."

That was in no way an understatement. The deserted highway they were traveling on now didn't connect with any major urban areas for at least a few dozen miles. Not that it mattered. Everything between Tacoma and Portland was either empty or destroyed, and Jake was sure that it wouldn't be much different anywhere else in the country. He tried to recall what happened when he and three others took a trip to this hospital. They were searching for food, thinking that they found the motherlode in Mercy. But of course, it was too good to be true.

It was on that day when Jake realized vampires weren't the only threat in this fucked up world, that humans pushed to the brink of sanity would fight back just as viciously as any monster. The group he had taken with him was lucky enough to get away from the scene with just a few scratches. Anger swelled inside him when he remembered the ringleader of the militia, aiming his gun at Paul with a malicious glint in his eye. Jake swore to himself that if he ever saw that bastard again, he would maul him as a wolf, then kill him as a human just so he knew what he was dealing with.

"There's a bunch of guys waiting at the front entrance, so I suggest we enter from the rear," Jake said.

Emmett began to snicker. "Enter the rear."

Ignoring the vampire jock, Jake continued. "Before you guys think I'm exaggerating, get ready for their decorations.

"A bunch of vampire and werewolf heads are on pikes all around the area. Their warning to both our kind that they don't fuck around. Having met with them up close, I can tell you now that they don't." The brothers passed a glance at one another, but said nothing.

Silence befell them as midnight approached. The overcast darkness, while ordinarily depressing, would prove to be their largest asset tonight. The psychos in that hospital may have been trigger-happy sharpshooters, but that only meant something when the sun was out. Tonight, the monsters had the natural advantage.

"I never got a chance to thank you," Jake said to Edward, breaking the silence. Fuck, he almost stalled when Edward faced him, his eyes glowing even more brightly than before.

"F-for what you did, and what you're doing now," he continued in a shaky voice. Jake's pride would ordinarily get in the way of any concession, but should this night go to hell, he at least wanted to voice his appreciation for what the brothers were risking for him and the pack.

Edward smiled and damn was it beautiful. "It's no problem, I'm glad to help and any excuse for killing is good enough for Emmett."

"And no Carlisle or Esme to scold me for doing so," Emmett said with an excited laugh.

"Carlisle?" Jake asked.

"He's our adoptive father. Esme is his wife, Emmett's partner Rosalie is also with them."

"Where are they?"

Edward's demeanor suddenly veered into sorrow, not what Jake had intended.

"We don't know," Edward replied sullenly, "we were searching for them before we met you."

"What happened?"

"The vampires that started this war, we knew them. At least, Carlisle did. They took Jasper's wife Alice in exchange for our lives. Our group was forced to separate so we could throw off the Volturi. But Carlisle and the others never showed up at the rendezvous point, we've been looking for them ever since."

"They're alive," Emmett said with confidence. "Rosie would probably flip the Earth upside down looking for me. The ultimate hardcore chick if there ever was one."

"Where were you guys headed?" Jake asked.

"We're starting with familiar places. We tried up north, at one of our former homes in Alaska. No one was there. So we're going to Brazil next."

Jake felt even worse now. "You guys didn't have to do this."

Edward leaned in close, something that unexpectedly made Jake's heart rate increase. "Emmett feels guilty, about what he did to your friends."

"Shut up man," Emmett said defensively.

"He doesn't show it, but he's a big softie inside," Edward continued.

Emmett rebuffed him with a scoff. "Better than being Mr. Brood In The Corner And Sulk While Everyone Stares At My Gloriously Sexy Hair."

"Take you that long to come up with that?" Edward asked playfully.

Emmett took on a high-pitched tone. "Only for my super special big bwother. Gee golly gosh, maybe we could get some ice cream after this murderous bloodbath, can we huh? Can we?"

"We only kill if we are being fired at or attacked," Edward warned sternly.

Jake turned to him, eyes straining with incredulity. "Please tell me you're not serious."

Emmett started chuckling. "Trust me, he is."

"And you call yourself a creature of the night?" Jake said. Edward didn't respond with anything other than denigrating shake of the head.

"Sweet," Emmett said rubbing his palms together, "fighting vampires and crazy militiamen. This is the best day ever."

The rest of the walk was filled with short cynical jabs between the three of them, actually, it eventually devolved into a yo mama competition between him and Emmett. Edward stayed quiet, composed and calm to a disturbing degree. Seriously, Jake never met anyone so damn uptight. The guy was like a male model, celibate monk, and wannabe Jesus rolled into one form. If he wasn't so damn pretty...shit, Edward was looking at him uncomfortably again. Jake pressed ahead to keep his mind off of sex, not easy when Edward's flowery fragrance kept brushing against him.

Once the distant outline of the hospital came to view, they left the open expanse of highway and into of the eerie depths of the forest. The eight story building had no lights whatsoever, but Jake could see orange flickers shifting past a few of the windows. So the place had no electricity, it seemed fate was on his side for once.

"So, what's the plan?" Jake asked the brothers as they crept along the forest floor, eyes wary of every little detail they passed.

"You're asking us?" Edward asked with genuine surprise.

"My last trip here didn't turn out so well. I thought I was being gracious enough to let you two play leader, but if you want my approach, I'm fine with barging in there and killing everyone in sight."

Emmett tried to say something, but he never got to finish. Something snapped above them and Jake dove to the ground on instinct. Several dark objects swung down from the canopies and collided with Emmett's chest. In a moment of sheer panic, Jake shielded his head with his hands because he thought they were bombs. Once he opened his eyes and looked up, he realized that reality was a whole lot fucking worse.

Emmett let out an audible gulp before taking a huge step back. Jake stood up, nearly recoiling in terror as five decapitated heads stared back at him. They had been stuck carelessly into meat hooks that were dangling from the branches above, their terrified eyes were kept open by stitches. Jake's eyes drifted downward and he saw what triggered the sadistic warning, a thin tripwire camouflaged under the foliage.

"Still don't want to fight?" Jake asked Edward.

"This is…" Edward couldn't even finish his sentence, Jake couldn't blame him. Was there even a word that existed for the people who created this? He shook his head, knowing that it didn't matter.

If there was some perverse silver lining in all this, it was the simple fact the device's intention failed. It was clearly designed to make someone scream or at least attract attention to themselves. Considering there were no bullets flying at them, they still had the advantage of surprise.

Jake trudged forward, his paranoid eyes darting over every rock and leaf in sight. Every new sound or sensation toyed with his mind, and there was a point where he thought shadows were stretching up and down the surrounding trees. They managed to avoid every trap that came their way though, thanks to Edward's keen eyes. Bear traps, pitfalls, even man-sized snares had been readied with startling care. These psychos went the whole nine yards with setting up a defensive perimeter.

One particularly brutal setup was a hidden shotgun adhered to the side of a tree trunk, spring loaded and probably capable of tearing a hole through an elephant's hide. Jake shuddered to think how many people were simply wandering through here, only to get slaughtered.

They stopped when they were about two hundred yards away from the hospital's parking lot, a desolate space filled with rusted vehicles and piles of trash. There were four men patrolling the area, pacing around in disjointed and asymmetric patterns while talking with one another. All were carrying rifles that looked like they belonged on a battlefield.

"How many entrances are there?" Edward asked scanning the scene.

"Three. The front, the rear, and the entrance to the ER on the side," Jake answered.

"We need a distraction. Then two of us can head inside and get the medicine." Edward looked to Emmett, and gave him some nonverbal signal that Jake didn't understand.

Emmett's eyes widened, "Why me?"

"You wanted a fight and bloodshed, that's the way to do it."

Emmett peeked his head out of cover, then nodded. "Cool."

In an instant, Emmett disappeared through the thickness of the trees.

"What now?" Jake asked, fingers ready to reach for his bow at any second.

"Trust me, Emmet works quickly. We'll know when it—" An enormous explosion shook the ground beneath them. The ensuing shockwave nearly knocked Jake and Edward off their feet, it even managed to get some of the windows from the upper floors to shatter. Both of them watched in awe as a massive billow of black smoke towered over the surrounding trees, followed shortly by the orange and red glow of flames.

"Happens," Edward finished.

That plan worked easy enough. Around ten men ran out of the door, armed with a variety of firearms. They were shouting at one another to spread out and find out what happened. Jake concealed himself between two sets of shrubs, while Edward pressed himself against a tree to avoid passing members of the militiamen. A large bearded man with an axe hoisted above his shoulder lumbered just a few feet away. Once the hunting party vanished in the distance, Jake shuffled over towards Edward.

"We going in?"

"It'll be better if we split—"

Jake interjected immediately. "Oh hell no. I am not splitting up. Haven't you ever seen a horror movie before?"

"There are eight floors in that building, do you really think we'll have enough time to search it all before these guys get back?" Logic, Jake's worst enemy. Logic coming from a hot guy, well, he had no choice but to comply.

"Fine, but we need a place to meet, in case things get bad."

"Back here," Edward said, as if that were the only plausible option.

"How original, why didn't I think of that," Jake said.

Edward rolled his eyes. "I'll head through the ER entrance. Meet you in a bit."

Edward edged gracefully along the edge of the forest, circling the hospital until he disappeared. Jake bit his lower lip, trying to formulate a plan on how he'd go about this.

"Split up, split up. If I have to save your ass during this, I swear am going to—" Jake clamped a hand over his mouth and ducked when he saw a red beam wavering through a second floor window. Great, a sniper.

Jake's eyes swept over his surroundings, searching for anything that he could use as a distraction. Then he saw it. In the parking lot, piled up next to a beaten down Ford Focus was a miniature mountain of trash that screamed the word flammable.

Now he wasn't a pyromaniac or arsonist-in-training, but Jake couldn't deny the satisfaction in seeing things burn. Just in the same way people stare at car accidents or love gory slasher flicks, this was his macabre guilty pleasure.

Jake tore off the hem of his wife beater and wrapped it around an arrowhead, then took out his lighter and held the flame to the cloth. Once a comfortable fire was burning, Jake readied the shot. It was an easy enough target that even a newbie to archery could hit. The resulting spark wasn't as instantaneous as he had hoped, but soon the garbage mound was a massive bonfire lighting up the entire area.

Jake looked upwards and saw that the red laser had moved to another side of the building. He took the opportunity and gunned straight for the doors. To his relief, the main lobby was empty.

He tried to catch his breath, only to gag when the foulest smell imaginable assaulted his nostrils. Christ. If a trailer park bred with a pig farm, covered itself in piss and fecal matter, then rolled around decomposing roadkill just for the hell of it, then that was the smell that bombarded his olfactory nerves. There were hundreds of beer cans and empty cigarette packs scattered about the floor, along with some dried blood that Jake didn't want to contemplate on. The whole room looked like a horror movie set, not to mention every surface was coated with a fine layer of dust that kicked up a noxious cloud each time Jake took a step. With one hand clasped over his nose, he continued further inside.

Thankfully it didn't take long for his eyes to grow accustomed to the darkness. The first room he searched was a small pharmacy/gift shop whose shelves and cabinets had long been looted. There were spilled prescription bottles of prozac and vicodin on the floor near the counter, and empty shell casings everywhere else. Once he was sure that nothing was of use, Jake moved on. The rest of the rooms on this floor were offices, all of which were either empty or filled with sleeping bags. Medicine was nowhere in sight.

Jake used the stairway to reach the second floor since the lack of electricity made the elevators all but inoperable. Before he could even open the door, Jake froze as a shadow zipped past the glass. The sniper.

He pushed through the door, gauging the weight of his footsteps, then crept along the wall towards the opposite end of the corridor. The sniper was a middle-aged man, handlebar mustache as grey as his hair, and dressed in faded military garb. Not the best person to go toe to toe with. Jake knew he had to take a chance. He reached behind him and pulled out an arrow, waiting until the sniper was facing the other direction. Luckily, another explosion discharged outside, drawing the sniper's attention to one of the windows. Jake released the arrow and it drove right through his neck, he collapsed with a weak cry.

Jake tiptoed towards the sniper, who was clutching his throat in a vain attempt to stem the blood flow. The pool of nearly black liquid around his head made it clear he didn't have much time left. When he saw Jake, his eyes narrowed in both disgust and rage.

"Where is your medicine?" Jake asked in a bare whisper.

"F-fuck y...you," he gurgled in uneven syllables. The sniper then started to laugh, a desperate and bitter one before his eyes glazed over. Jake knelt down when he saw something very useful on the sniper's belt. A small flashlight. He pulled it off, satisfied when it brightened up a fair amount of the wall in front of him. Two more explosions rattled outside, even closer than before, spurring Jake to continue his search. He barged into every room on this floor, flipping tables and sorting through countless heaps of junk for anything of use. But he couldn't even find a fucking Band-Aid or Tylenol.

The third floor was pretty much the same, although he did manage to find a small bottle of aspirin. He made his way to the fourth floor, only to stop in his tracks when his flashlight brightened up a very disturbing image. The steps leading up to the door were smeared with blood, there were four defined streaks running up each tread that were clearly made by fingers. It all connected to a trail that went past the door and led into a room at the far end of the hall. Against his better judgement, Jake followed it with bow ready in hand. He opened the door and dropped everything.

There were two bodies, hanging upside down from the ceiling, their bodies flayed open and harvested of all their organs. The room looked like a butcher shop, blood splattered on every surface and the white tiles on the floor stained red. It smelled even worse, judging from the flies buzzing around, these carcasses were already rotting. There were assortments of bone saws and kitchen knifes lying atop two operating tables, and various organs placed beside them. Jake rushed back out and threw up the few contents he had in his stomach.

"Fuck," he groaned as his abdomen twisted in pain. These guys were cannibals. The thought shouldn't have surprised him, but seeing this, it took away whatever hope he had remaining in his body.

His panic was interrupted by a muffled gunshot upstairs. Edward.

"Shit," Jake muttered to himself as he retrieved his bow and flashlight. He shambled back up the stairway. The moment he entered the fifth floor, he crashed into an unfamiliar figure and they tumbled to the floor. Jake's bow, quiver of arrows, and flashlight flew down the hall, leaving him both unarmed and blind.

Before Jake could even regain his bearings, a boot plowed into his lower jaw and he rolled into the wall. The man who kicked him tried to stand, but Jake latched onto one of his feet and the guy stumbled just long enough for Jake to get back up. He didn't give his assailant time to recover, so Jake tackled him back to the floor. Knowing that he had neither the endurance or strength for a prolonged fight, Jake went in for the kill. Literally. He managed to grab an arrow from his spilled quiver and jammed it straight into the guy's throat. He clutched Jake's face, uselessly trying to push him off. But soon enough, a death rattle left his lips. With a disgusted grunt, Jake broke away from the body and recovered his items. He looked down at his attacker, surprised when the face seemed so familiar.

"Damn." Now he remembered who it was. The asshole who threatened Paul. Well, he didn't get to maul the guy as a wolf, but this seemed like a good enough payback.

Jake didn't get much of a chance to breathe, this time a woman's screaming pierced the air. Definitely not what he expected. It was close though, just the floor above him. Once he reached the sixth floor, he saw Edward panting a couple of yards away, and standing over two bodies. For a moment, Jake almost smiled in relief to see that he was okay. That was until he saw two people huddled behind Edward. Two teens, both dressed in tattered clothing.

If his spirit and soul were personified into human form, then they just collapsed from a myocardial infarction. Edward rushed the two people in front of him like a mother hen shepherding her baby chicks, completely oblivious to Jacob's open mouthed expression.

"What...the...fuck?" Jake said in a barely veiled whisper.

"They're prisoners," Edward said.

"And I should care why? We came here to get medicine."

Edward shoved two large paper bags into Jacob's hands. "What do you think this is?"

Jake ignored him and leaned to the side to get a better view of the _prisoners_. They were both young, around Jake's own age, and looked like they had just walked through a war zone. Their hair frazzled and skin mottled with dirt. The boy was of Asian descent and limping, while the girl looked to be on the verge of collapse. Jake sympathized, how could he not? But risking his life and the pack's for the wellbeing of two strangers was not worth it. He turned to Edward and gave him a stern glare. "I am not taking them with me."

"You expect me to just leave them there?"

"I wouldn't expect anything, considering we've only known one another for less than a day. But judging from the righteous standards I've seen from you, I guess this shouldn't surprise me."

"Just help me."

Jake didn't budge. In fact, he crossed his arms and held his ground against Edward's increasingly venomous gaze. "How exactly did you plan on smuggling them out of here?"

"I didn't think that far ahead," Edward replied tersely.

"Oh gee, well that makes things so much better doesn't it?"

"I will help them whether you want me to or not. You have your medicine, feel free to head back."

"He's a vampire," Jake said out loud, making sure the prisoners could hear him. All right, he knew it was a dick thing to say and maybe a portion of it was to convince Edward to reconsider. But these people deserved to know the reality of their situation. Edward looked livid though.

"And that matters how? I saved them. If I wanted to eat them, I would have done it upstairs."

Jake turned to the prisoners. "My people won't let you in, if that was his plan. I'm sorry."

"Then what do you suggest?" the woman asked in a thin voice.

"The world today is a free-for-all, every person for themselves. I guarantee you though, I've seen what happens when his kind smells blood. They lose control faster than you can blink. You're better off on your own."

"If you say one more word, I will—" Edward tried to say but Jake didn't let him finish.

"You'll what? Kill me? Everything I just said, you know it's true. That's why you not only wanted but _expected_ me to help them. Isn't it?"

"Do you really want to leave these people to get slaughtered?"

"Of course not, but my pack works as a democracy. Majority vote on where to go, what to do. Sam holds the most sway though, and I know him well enough that he won't risk the pack's life and safety for two humans." Edward looked distraught, and fuck did it almost make Jake reconsider, but he didn't. He couldn't. Jake made a beeline for the exit, until the woman shouted for him to stop.

"Can we stay with your people, if we give you helpful information?" she asked.

Jake turned around, retaining his poker face. He purposely jumbled around his thoughts to make sure Edward couldn't read him. "Depends on what the information is."

"Supplies. Food and water and more medicine. I overheard them talking about it."

"Where?"

Her expression tightened. "Not unless we have your word that you'll help us."

"There are two things wrong with your argument. Number one, my pack is doing fine or at least, we're doing enough to get by. Whatever you provide us, it's a luxury that we can afford to lose. Two, if you think you can blackmail me with information, you're dead wrong."

The woman looked to Edward, before returning her gaze on Jake. "I'm pregnant."

And there it was. Jake closed his eyes, stifling down a scream just aching to be released. Blackmail, no problem. He'd dealt with it plenty of times in his life. Bribery, even better. At least he would get something out of it. But a guilt trip, well, if there were someone up there judging him by his actions, sacrificing a pregnant woman to the undead didn't seem like a good thing to gain favor.

"My boyfriend, the father of this baby growing inside me was killed by these fucking assholes. After he tried to stop them from raping me. He—" Jake held his hand up, then faced Edward.

"Get them back to Sam and the others."

"What?" he asked in surprise.

"You wanted to play hero, well now you got it. As for me, I am going to take out every last one of these guys before the night is finished." To Jake's surprise, Edward walked right up to him and pulled him aside.

"You saw the bodies?" he said knowingly.

"These guys will keep killing unless we stop them. And I will not let anyone in my pack turn into those people down there."

"Nice to see you changing your mind so quickly."

"I came here to kill these sick fucks, and that's what I intend to do. And the only reason I'm letting them go with us is because they claim to have helpful info that we can use."

"She's telling the truth, I could read it."

"Take the medicine and get them back to the neighborhood. If they give you any information, please tell Sam." Edward simply nodded, then ushered the two prisoners out towards the stairway. He stopped just before the door closed.

"Keep an eye out for Emmett, if you can."

"If those explosions outside are any indication, I think he'll be fine." Edward gave him a smile and damn did it send a feeling of warmth through his body.

"Be careful," Edward said, looking back one last time before following the prisoners down the stairs.

Once they were gone, Jake took in a breath of reprieve before doing something undoubtedly stupid. He started gathering every piece of flammable material on this floor and piled them up in the middle of the corridor. He broke apart chairs and desks, until there was a healthy stack of wood and cloth reaching up to the ceiling. He lit his zippo and tossed it into the pile, then ran back down the stairs. Whether or not it would set the whole building on fire was a valid question, but one that Jake didn't really care about. It would at least do enough damage to make sure this place would and should be avoided.

Just as he stepped back into the coolness of the night, Jake heard gunfire bursting from a specific area of the woods. He peered closer, able to make out a few defined shapes in the distance. Then he saw Emmett, running like something was...chasing him. Jake took a few steps closer, only to pause when he saw around seven or eight people sprinting behind Emmett. They were the militiamen scouts that left the building earlier. That wasn't the messed up part though, nipping at their heels were a dozen or so screeching vampires.

"What the fuck is going on?" Jake shouted when Emmett was about twenty feet away.

"No time, run!" Emmett said latching onto Jake's arm and forcing him to hurtle at the same breakneck speed.

"What the hell did you do?"

"My little explosions may have alerted every vampire within twenty miles."

"What!" Jake looked behind him, paling when he saw three of the militiamen being taken down by the leeches. Their screams could probably wake the dead.

"Where's Ed?" Emmett asked in between breaths.

"Pregnant woman, Asian guy, long story. How many bloodsuckers are there?"

"Oh, maybe two or three—dozen."

"Great."

"Hey, at least I led those militia guys to them, they should be able to take out a few of each other's people." Considering he heard no more gunshots, Jake was sure the militiamen lost this fight.

"Where exactly are we headed?"

Emmett started to laugh. "I have no fucking idea."

That was the biggest fucking understatement of the year. They zipped through the trees, through the woods at such momentum that everything rushed past them in a blur of colors. Jake's hunger and exhaustion were beginning to catch up, each step seemed to take another little piece out of him. They didn't have to wait long before an obstacle popped up, and this one was big. They reached a cliff that led straight to the ocean, with a fall that looked more than lethal.

"Please tell me you have a plan," Jake asked, staring down at the pitch black waters.

Emmett shook his head. "Not really. Water would throw them off though."

"If you expect me to jump off a cliff, you're out of your fucking mind." The shrieking couldn't have been more than a minute away.

"Your choice. Frankly, I'd rather drown than get eaten." Just like that, Emmett dove in head first and disappeared into a cloud of foam.

"Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit!" Jake closed his eyes and against every bit of common sense telling him not to, he jumped.


	6. Would You Kindly

** Hello all, I'm sorry for the extra long update, holiday time is hectic in my family and I had to deal with it all. Anyway, I hope each and every one of you had a very Merry Christmas/Happy Hanukkah/Kwanzaa/Holiday Celebration! This is a quickie chapter, just to bring a short glimpse into how my version of the Volturi turned out and what Alice is dealing with. Worry not though, the next (and longer) chapter will go up shortly. Thanks so much again for your kind reviews, enjoy!**

* * *

_Where are you_? Alice sifted through hundreds if not thousands of images, trying to grasp even the slightest fragment of Jasper's whereabouts, for any kind of hope to cling onto. Yet he vanished alongside Edward and Emmett. Panic was quickly building inside her as she traversed various fields of the future, without any of them in sight.

"No..."

"What?" Irina asked in alarm, breaking Alice from the last traces of her vision.

She opened her eyes, faced Irina, mind still swirling with dreadful scenarios on what could have happened. "I can't see them."

"What?"

"I can't see Jasper and the others."

"Are they..." Irina paused when Felix, one of the Volturi guards assigned to watch over them, peered through the bars with a cold expressionless stare.

"Cullen. You had a vision?" Alice didn't answer, she didn't even know she had been gripping Irina's hand until the tips of her fingers began to turn white.

"Did you have a vision?" he repeated in an even more hostile tone. Alice nodded without a word.

"Then we'd best tell them about it." He reached into one of his pockets and pulled out a set of keys, then opened the doors of the cell. With a wordless grunt, he motioned for her to follow him.

"We'll speak later," Irina said letting go of her hand. Alice couldn't give much more than a nod because Felix forcefully nudged her toward the stairs. With her hands clenched at her sides, Alice walked out of the dungeon and into the ornate corridors of Oheka Castle, for yet another meeting with Aro and his psychotic partners. The harsh juxtaposition between her barren room and this regal setting was still jarring. Instead of choosing more renowned places like the Capitol or a skyscraper in Manhattan, they chose this historic estate as their new base because it apparently reminded them of...home, whatever that meant. Once he gained the advantage in their war against the shifters and effectively wiped out the human population, Aro had the freedom of calling the eastern portion of America his, with no one standing in the way.

It didn't take long to reach the ballroom, a massive area that Alice would have delighted in decorating, had circumstances been different. She could see everything now, a postmodern look complete with Art Nouveau paintings and those brightly colored sofas she saw in an IKEA ad. It would be a kitschy but perfect fusion of old versus new. Instead, this was all _old_. Ornate chandeliers, luxury curtains and rugs, and an annoyingly cliché color scheme of gold and red. She felt like she just stepped into a high school Renaissance fair's shoddy and half-baked interpretation of a throne room.

The three leaders were seated as usual, this time being entertained by a two scantily clad dancers that were practically emulating sexual positions. One of them was surprisingly a male. They were young, young enough that Alice felt quickly promised herself not to look into their futures, whatever would be left of them.

"Ah, my dear sweet Alice," Aro said noticing her arrival. She wanted to do nothing more than turn around and flip him off, but she hid every emotion behind a perky smile as she approached.

"Bring them to my private quarters," Aro said to his other guard Demetri while scouring the dancers' bodies with a predatory grin. Demetri ushered the duo out of the room.

Aro stood up and slinked towards her like a bipedal snake just learning how to walk. "It has been brought to my attention that you had a rather vivid vision."

"It was nothing, just a few snippets of my family."

"Really?" Caius asked, elbow and head propped up on the arm of the chair. He was making no effort to hide the suspicion in his voice.

Alice stifled a groan of disgust when Aro reached out and caressed her cheek with the back of his hand. "Now you know better than to lie to us, don't you? After all we've done for you."

"I'm telling you the truth, I saw nothing." She tried to sound assured, but it came out shaky and tentative.

"Regardless," Aro said, thankfully unaware of her hesitance, "I must take a look." Without another word, he grasped the sides of her head with both hands and closed his eyes. She hated this more than anything, every second of him violating her thoughts, intruding on past memories that deserved to be left alone. Once he finished reading her, Aro pulled away and faced his companions with an exhilarated giggle.

"She speaks the truth, everything just fades away. It's quite fascinating."

"Are they dead?" Marcus asked curiously.

"No," Alice immediately answered, "if they were I would have seen how it happened."

"What could cause that to happen?" Marcus asked.

Alice was fairly sure of the answer, Occam's razor all but leading her to the simplest solution. Shapeshifters. She encountered them in her youth and this very same effect clouded her visions when they were in close proximity. Alice said nothing, the less they suspected out of her, the safer Jasper would be. "I don't know, this has never happened to me before."

"I could only see your husband and your two brothers, where is Carlisle?" Aro asked, looking back toward Alice with another one of his penetrating glares.

"I don't know."

"Now here I am, generously offering you to skip that oh so tedious process of defiling your memories, yet you're spitting it all back at me like an ungrateful dog." Since his patience was clearly withering away, Alice decided it best not to provoke him.

"He's alive."

"That wasn't my question, where is he?" Again, instinct forced her mouth shut. Aro's anger was beginning to break through with frightening clarity, his jaw clenched as he took an invasive step closer. Alice could smell faint traces of blood on his skin, probably the last remnants of whatever poor soul he fed from last night.

"Please don't tempt him girl, control has never been one of our strong suits," Caius uttered with a malicious smirk. He was clearly eager to see her disobey.

"Somewhere in the Midwest, going east." Alice finally answered. Aro's eyes widened, making it clear that he understood what it meant.

"Perhaps he's thinking of joining us," Marcus said hopefully.

Aro let out a half-smile. "Doubtful, Carlisle has always been...idealistic. Too much for his own good, but I always admired that about him."

"What are we to do?" Caius asked, more detached than ever.

With a quick gesture, Aro called Felix over to him. "Fetch Alec and Jane for me."

Alice clasped her fingers around Aro's arm, an action that both surprised and amused him. "Please, you have me. Don't hurt them."

"We've granted them mercy once already. If he chooses to squander that gift, it is not of our concern."

"They can't beat you, you all know that." Her pleas were clearly going nowhere, but still, she tried and tried again.

"You underestimate your father's capabilities," Marcus replied.

Caius began to tap his foot on the stone floor. "Where did you last see your husband and brothers?"

"I already said I don't know," she reasserted.

Caius was standing now, his expression growing darker by the second. "We haven't lived this long if we haven't established ourselves to be the apex predator on this planet. We can get the information out of you, without even touching a hair on the precious little head of yours."

Aro held a hand up to hush Caius. "Calm yourself brother."

He faced Alice and gave her another one of those creepy smiles that made it feel like ants were crawling all over her skin. "No one is going to hurt you, but the same can't be said about your friend back there. What's her name again, Irina?"

Alice still didn't answer.

"You have until the count of three before I send Felix to bring her here. I suggest you make the prudent choice. One."

Aro's smile was growing wider. "Two."

"Just shut up and wait!" Alice shouted unwittingly. Her outburst was loud and threatening enough that even the demure Marcus stood up, although Aro and Caius looked as entertained as ever.

"If you kill her, you'll no longer have a pet willing to obey you." Alice was saving this particular speech as a last resort, but now seemed like an apt time to use it. "Sure, you'll get to see what you want, but I'll make sure it'll be a painful process. I've had this power long enough to learn a few tricks and believe me when I say I will use each one of them to throw you guys off the trail."

"The kitten has claws, so it would seem," said Caius with an almost impressed chuckle.

"Ah, they're here!" Aro said excitedly looking past Alice. She spun around and paled when she saw the twins advancing towards them. Their posture and faces were unflappable as usual, Jane herself may as well have been a walking mannequin.

Aro put a hand on both their shoulders. "I want you both to find the Cullen boys and bring them here, alive."

"Where are they?" Alec asked.

"Unfortunately, Alice has chosen not to supply us with the information."

"We can make her," Jane said confidently as she and Alice locked eyes.

"Now now, no fighting," Aro said in a tut-tut voice. "We're in no rush. You and Alec can even think of this as a game."

Both Jane and her brother's lips curled into smiles. It made Alice's blood boil.

Aro clapped his hands together excitedly. "Like hide and seek. Start out west and keep heading here until you find them." Jane gave Aro a sickening curtsy before leaving the room with her brother in tow.

"What are we going to do about Carlisle?" Marcus asked.

Aro returned to his seat and crossed his legs, never once taking his eyes off Alice. "He obviously wants to see us, so I suggest we greet him with open arms. Felix, please take Alice back to her room, where she can hopefully meditate on how to make things easier for her family."

Felix seized her by the shoulder and before she knew it, Alice was back inside her cell with a very confused Irina staring back at her. To her relief, Felix shut the cell door and made his way back upstairs.

"What's happening?" Irina asked with worry.

Alice looked behind her, making sure that no one could hear their conversation. "The twins, they're going after Jasper and the others."

"What about Carlisle and Esme?"

"I don't know, I didn't want to give them more than I should have." Alice closed her eyes, focusing all her energy on trying to see Carlisle and his future. He was accompanied by several vampires, old friends from the past. She could also see Esme and Rosalie with him as they crossed an empty cornfield. Their faces were filled with so many emotions, but defeat was the most visible.

"They're coming here but I don't know why. Why aren't they trying to find Jasper and the others?"

"Maybe they're coming to negotiate," Irina proposed. Alice delved further ahead, this time she could see Carlisle approaching the castle, with hundreds of people behind him. An army. She could see fighting, heads rolling, fire. _No_, _not negotiate_.

"Alice?"

Alice opened her eyes once the final image etched into her mind. She couldn't cry or sweat or breathe, but viewing that strand of the future made her feel more human than ever before. For a moment, she almost thought her heart was beating out of terror.

"Alice, talk to me. What do you see?"

"My family…they're going to die."


	7. Mind Games

** Author's note here. I'll do my best to utilize most characters in the Twilight-verse, in roles obviously different from the series and more than likely non-canon in terms of characterization. For example, my version of Jasper is a bit...openminded and hedonistic, so take that for whatever it may be worth. Also, I have an original character in here that acts as Jake's rival, named Carson. I made him because I couldn't really find anyone in the story that could fit as such, and besides, I like making original characters. Anyway, please enjoy!**

* * *

"Ugh...what the hell?" Jasper jolted from his slumber with a groan, some stunning bit of news considering he hadn't slept in nearly two centuries. Everything in front of him was a blurred haze and blinking didn't seem to help.

"You're up," a voice announced to his right. Jasper propped himself up on his elbows and saw Paul sitting on a chair across from him. _Wait a minute...I'm on a bed_?

"What happened?"

"You were trying to help me sleep, but then you blacked out in the hall outside. I dragged you back in here." Paul looked down at his hands and started fiddling with his fingernails. "I didn't even know vampires could pass out."

Jasper rubbed his eyes, again, a very unfamiliar action that did not help because he was more than likely doing it wrong. "What time is it?"

"Almost three in the morning."

With a heavy sigh, Jasper dragged a hand through his hair and swung his legs off the edge of the mattress. "Are my brothers back yet?"

"No, Sam's getting worried."

"Why am I in your bed?" Jasper asked, his words purposely lifting an octave. Paul's reaction was to say the least, a surprise. No snappy remark or overt disgust, he just bit his lower lip and looked out the window.

"I didn't know if you were dead or not. You don't exactly have a pulse or heartbeat. If I told Sam, he might've just tossed you back in the woods."

"That's never happened to me before but I appreciate the sentiment." In a move that surprised Jasper enough to stand, Paul left the room, only to return with a something furry in his hands.

"I uh, managed to find something, since you said you were hungry." Paul held out a rabbit that was covered in dirt but by all other accounts, looked fresh. Not the most delectable item in the world or even these woods, but it was more than Jasper could have gotten on his own and for that, he was grateful. Paul, seemingly frustrated with holding the carcass, began to wave it in front of Jasper's face.

"Well, take it. I may be part dog but even I don't like raw meat." Jasper didn't bother hiding a smile as he took the long departed rodent from Paul's hand. It was still warm, a very good sign.

"How'd you get it?" Jasper asked holding it up for study. Poor Thumper. For a small moment, Jasper wondered if Bambi and Flower shared the same fate.

"We set up traps and snares in the forest. Found him before anyone could take it." Well, if that wasn't reason enough for him to dig in… Jasper sank his incisors into its tiny neck and almost moaned in delight when the copper flavored liquid gushed into his mouth. Screw ambrosia and nectar of the gods, nothing could beat the first taste of blood when vampiric dehydration reared its nasty little head. Once he was sure the rabbit had been fully drained, Jasper unlatched his teeth from the flesh and let out a content sigh. It didn't take long for him to realize that Paul was staring at him, his expression fluctuating unevenly between morbid fascination and sheer nausea. Either way, it took Jasper from his high and he set the rabbit down, then wiped the residue on his jeans with a thin cough of humiliation.

"Thanks again. It's been a while since I've been pampered," Jasper said with his hand extended. Paul reached for it with visible reluctance, only for Jasper to continue his mischievous teasing. "By another man at least."

Just like that, Paul jerked his hand back and walked across the other end of the room.

"Are you gay?" he asked in a humorously straitlaced tone.

"Considering you saw images of my wife a few hours ago, I'm sure you can figure out the answer to that. But if I were, would it bother you?" Jasper was just toying with him now. Was it cruel and slightly manipulative? Yes, but this kind of goading was a very pleasing form of entertainment.

"No. But I want you to know that I'm not."

"I never said that you were."

Paul huffed, crossed his arms, then looked out the window yet again. "Whatever."

"I take it you didn't get any sleep," Jasper asked. Relief washed through Paul's body at the change of subject.

"No."

"My offer still stands." Paul looked back at him.

"After what happened earlier and what I saw, I'll take a pass."

Respecting his decision, Jasper put his hands behind him and backed away. "Again, I'm sorry about that. I just—I have a lot of issues."

"We all do, it's cool man." Their awkward little hallmark moment didn't last too long, because Paul's head suddenly perked up in an amusingly canine manner. Jasper was almost going to ask what was wrong, until he heard the heavy footsteps and shouting just beyond the window. Paul didn't say anything, he just bolted from the room.

"Something always has to ruin the fun," Jasper muttered to himself before quickly heading outside. A rather large kerfuffle had broken out on the main street, consisting mainly of armed male shifters. Not to his surprise, Edward was in the thick of it and to make things even better, there were two humans huddled behind him like sick little children.

Sam was standing across from Edward with a rifle in hand.

"Where is Jake?" Sam asked with his finger inching dangerously close to the trigger.

"Taking out the rest of the people at the hospital. They're cannibals." Edward, always the chivalrous knight in glittering armor, said it in his almost holier than thou way.

"And who are they?" Sam said, turning to the teenage humans.

"They were being kept prisoner in the hospital."

Much to everyone surprise, the woman moved in front of Edward, her hands raised up high. "We have information to trade, if you guys allow us to join you."

_This should be good_. The gasps and audible murmurs from the crowd were practically vocalizing Sam's emotions, which Jasper could already tell was filled with doubt and suspicion. Jasper chuckled to himself, knowing that those words were too stilted and choppy to have been her own. At least Edward thought ahead of time.

"Information?" Sam asked.

"This is the only medicine there," the woman tossed two paper bags to Sam, before continuing Edward's little speech, "but I know a place that has a lot more. A place with food, water, weapons, gas, you name it."

Jasper stopped paying attention when his eyes caught sight of something in the distance. He pushed through two wolves until he was standing beside Sam and glaring at his brother.

"Where is Emmett?"

"With Jake," Edward answered, still unaware of what was coming behind him.

"Apparently," Jasper replied. Emmett was carrying Jake, princess style no less, and jogging towards them at a frantic speed. They were both drenched and more than a little bloodied.

"What happened?" Sam asked as they arrived.

"This idiot thought jumping off a cliff would be a good idea," Jake said with a frustrated growl while looking up at his _savior_.

Emmett just rolled his eyes. "Stop being such a baby, you're alive aren't you?"

"Can you walk?" Sam asked as he examined Jake's leg.

"Do you think I'd let this moron carry me if I could?"

"Hey, this wasn't exactly a cakewalk for me either fruitcake, when's the last time you bathed?" Emmett retorted with a snort.

"About the same time you grew a brain cell."

"All right, that is enough." Sam ordered, before looking at Emmett. "Now what did you mean by thirty vampires?"

Emmett set Jacob down before tucking his hands in his jeans. "Relax, we threw them off."

"Temporarily," Jake mumbled angrily. "We need to keep moving Sam."

"How exactly do you propose we do that with Seth still unconscious?" Sam said. The ever increasing grumbles from the crowd were making Sam's temper flare, much to Jasper's delight. Who would've thought watching shifters fumble through their emotions would be so damn amusing?

"You know what," Sam started with his voice loud enough for everyone to hear, "I can't concentrate with everyone huddled around me. I only want Jake, me, and the vampires here. Now everyone do what you were doing earlier!"

The shifters all obeyed without much disagreement and dispersed swiftly. To be frank, Jasper didn't want to stay either, the inevitable shouting match that would ensue might push him over the edge of sanity. He noticed Paul returning to his house and decided to tag along, even against Edward's suspicious glare. The wolf wasn't too smart, considering he left the front door unlocked. Jasper walked inside and back to the bedroom where Paul was sitting on the bed.

"Still tired?" Paul jumped up in surprise, only to look back towards the ceiling with a sigh.

"What are you doing here?"

Jasper pressed his back against the wall and leaned against it. "Unfortunately that whole rule of vampires can't come in uninvited isn't true."

"Look, I need to try and get some sleep—"

"What happened earlier was believe me, a momentary lapse in both judgment and execution. I swear to you that I can get you sleeping." Jasper felt slightly ashamed that his explanation was also a way of convincing himself that he didn't completely fuck up their last "session".

"It's fine—" Paul tried to say but Jasper just rushed forward and shoved the wolf down so that he was lying flat on the bed.

"What the hell man!"

Jasper ignored him as he paced to the other end of the room. "Now there are many things that can get someone sleepy. Drinking milk, taking a bath, listening to New Age music. Since most of those things aren't exactly feasible in the world today, I think we should use one foolproof method of getting you to sleep."

Jasper gave a smile that sent Paul's heart into jackhammer mode. Well, he'd done this plenty of times, but never on a man. With Alice, and a few women he met before her, sure. But back then, he hadn't honed his empathic abilities to the fine point they've turned into today. With a snap of his finger, Jasper projected a tidal wave of arousal into Paul, powerful enough that he suddenly clutched the sheets beneath him and a bed shaking groan left his lips.

"Just let it flow through you," Jasper said watching in fascination as Paul writhed all over the bed.

Jasper took a seat on the lone chair and crossed his legs. "Can't believe I didn't think of this earlier. Would have saved us both the trouble, not to mention give you a bit of relief."

"What the fuck are you d-doing to me?"

"What do you think? It's an orgasm for Christ's sake, just shut up and enjoy it." Jasper sent another flood of lust into Paul until the only sounds hitting the air were incoherent gasps. He kept hammering Paul with a relentless series of urges and desires. Vague yet specific enough that Jasper could control how and when Paul would lose it. It didn't take long for Paul to reach climax and once he did, his back arched and he bit back a piercing cry as the muscles in his body tensed.

_Now for the coup de grâce_. Jasper slowly trickled out the calmest of scenes into Paul's thoughts, a particular one being a New Mexico sunrise he recalled from his youth. It was one of the few memories he still had of his human life. Paul's glazed eyes eventually closed, and soon he was snoring like a baby. Jasper stood up in satisfaction, only to stop when Paul's stained sweatpants gave new meaning to the word tented.

He shouldn't have done it. He should have just let Paul rest, then leave. But Jasper went ahead anyway and removed Paul's shoes. He lifted a stray foot off the bed and even tucked Paul under the covers.

"Fuck you're big," Jasper said quietly as he tilted his head to get a better look at Paul's ample appendage. Big was putting it mildly. It looked like a goddamn flashlight was jutting from his crotch. Unfortunately, with his focus lingering far too long on Paul's nether regions, Jasper didn't even notice the dumbfound figure standing at the doorway. It was the wolf he met earlier, Quil. _Shit_.

Jasper opened his mouth to say something but Quil darted from the room like a roadrunner.

"Fuck," Jasper grunted as he followed the shifter outside.

"Double fuck." Quil was standing in the street, flailing his hands in a conversation with Jake, who was looking none too pleased. Everything happened in such a flash that Jasper didn't even realize Jake sprinting for him, even with the limp in his leg. The ensuing blow nearly tore his head off.

xxx

Rest. Edward couldn't even get one brief minute of peace because the moment he left Riley's house, Jake was on top of Jasper, pummeling the un-living daylights out of him.

"What the hell is going on now?" Sam asked in exasperation as he slipped by Edward.

"That leech was having sex with Paul," another wolf shouted. Sam yanked Jake off with surprising ease, while Jasper quickly jumped to his feet and dusted himself off in his typically reserved demeanor.

"Damn it Jazz," Edward muttered under his breath as he ran towards them.

Sam still had his arms around a clearly belligerent Jake, struggling to keep him under control. Once Jake started thrashing about, Sam's grip was obviously weakening.

"Hold him Quil, that's an order." Sam shoved Jake into Quil's hands, then turned to Jasper.

"What is he talking about?"

"That idiot," Jasper said pointing at Quil, "walked in on me and Paul, completely misinterpreting everything."

"Misinterpret?" Quil countered, "He had a fucking boner and you had your hands all over him."

"He asked me to help him sleep, I did it. Did I use an unorthodox method to help him get there? Yes, but I did not have sex with him," Jasper said with a childlike huff.

"Liar, I can smell him on you," Jake snapped.

Jasper looked at his hands with just a very slight hint of embarrassment. "Again, that has a very awkward but valid explanation behind it. Why are you so concerned about this anyway?"

Jake said nothing, but that wasn't what worried Edward. It was the realization that suddenly spread across Jasper's features. His brother let out a malevolent smile that made Edward's hair stand on end. "Oh Christ, you're jealous aren't you?"

"Jazz..." Edward warned, praying that Jasper would be smart enough not to play this game. Then again, this was a guy with not much to lose.

Jasper's grin grew even wider. "I knew it, you're jealous of me."

Jacob tried to break free from Quil's grip but failed. "If you guys let him stay, I will murder him!"

Jasper shook his head dismissively. "I'd like to see you try."

Jacob elbowed Quil in the ribs and tried to tackle Jasper but he easily avoided it. Sam took control yet again, this time pinning Jake's hands behind his back.

"Relax, guys aren't usually of interest to me," Jasper quipped before looking back at Paul's house. "Although there have always been exceptions."

"You piece of shit—" Jake tried to say until Sam clamped his free hand over Jake's mouth.

Then Sam gave Edward a glare that could melt steel. "Keep him the fuck in line or we will have a fight that neither of us want."

"Goddamn it Jazz, that's enough!" Edward bellowed as authoritatively as he could. Jasper looked at him, his expression filled with disbelief.

_He shot me with an arrow, _after_ I saved his friends. He punches me based on one moron's speculation. Only fitting that I get a little payback, _Jasper replied in thought. Edward latched a hand on Jasper's shoulder and squeezed with enough force that he got the message.

They were stuck in a staring contest for God only knows how long, before Jasper finally gave a curt nod of submission. Jasper crossed his arms and walked down the street with heavy steps that could crater themselves into the concrete. Sam gradually eased his restraint on Jake until the younger wolf pushed him away. For a second, Edward thought he was going to chase after Jasper, but Jake just focused his enraged glower on Sam.

"He's a vampire we just met and you're letting him stay with Paul?"

"I'm not letting him do anything. Paul isn't a child, he can make his own decisions."

Jake pointed to the house Paul was staying in. "He's still hurting, he's looking for anyone to help take away the pain. I'll be damned if that asshole is the one to do it."

Edward stepped in, hoping to defuse the tension. "My brother may be…a jerk at times, but he's not a bad guy."

Jake didn't look one bit convinced. "Sure, let's just take your word for it then."

"Listen, he lost his wife. His mind isn't in the right—"

"Hey, news flash leech. You guys aren't the only people who lost someone during this. Every single shifter you met so far had a friend or partner or family member killed."

"If Paul asked him for help and they did whatever they did without harming one another, how exactly does any of that impact you?" Edward asked calmly.

He could see Jake teetering on the brink of another emotional eruption."Why don't you mind your own business?"

"I see your thoughts. If Paul isn't your boyfriend or lover, and whatever he and Jasper did was consensual, how should any of it involve you?" Jake made a fist, it looked serious enough that Edward readied himself to dodge. Sam thankfully stepped between them.

"Jake, if you don't calm the fuck down, I will have every able bodied man here to restrain you if necessary."

Jake sneered at everyone before turning around. "Whatever. I'm outta here."

Once he was far enough, from earshot at least, Sam turned to Quil. "Follow him and make sure he doesn't do anything stupid."

Quil obeyed the order immediately.

"Goddamn it," Sam said as he rubbed his temple.

"I'm sorry, about Jasper. He's a little out of it," Edward said with a regretful sigh of his own.

Sam didn't respond. At least not about that. "I need to know now if you are going to stay with us."

Edward raised his brow. "You'd be willing to let us?"

"After that stunt your brother just played, I'm reconsidering. Then again, I know Jake's temper can get a bit over the top."

"Yeah, a bit."

Sam looked up, almost as if he were pleading to the heavens.

"He told me that you're all headed south?" Sam asked, eyes still staring at the dark dull sky.

"We're headed to South America, but if you need the extra help, I'm sure we can accompany you guys until you reach the militia's base."

Sam scratched the back of his neck and nodded. "Like I said before, keep your brother under control and we won't have a problem. I'm checking back on Seth, you can come if you want."

They made their way to Riley's house, or as Emmett lovingly called it, Riley's Veterinary Center.

"Is he going to be all right?" Edward asked as Sam opened the front door for him.

"Jake? Yeah, the kid will cool off. That outburst has been building up for weeks now, it was bound to come out at any time."

Once they stepped inside, the mood got a lot more jovial. He could actually hear laughter echoing down the hall. Angela and Eric, the two humans he had found at the hospital were being treated by Riley at the far end of the living room. Two other people were talking with them, humans that Edward hadn't yet met, a blonde guy with a ponytail, and a redheaded woman. Seth was still asleep on the sofa with new sets of bandages wrapped around his thin torso, while Embry was sitting nearby scribbling in a journal. Emmett was standing up and watching the teens with enough paternal attentiveness that Edward couldn't help but feel impressed.

Sam immediately knelt at Seth's side, mumbling hushed words of comfort.

"What's with all the yelling?" Emmett asked, his eyes still on Seth. Edward walked beside him.

"Jasper saw a fire and decided to pour gasoline all over it."

Emmett started to laugh but he held back. "Anyone put it out yet?"

Edward smiled. "Jazz is getting more firewood as we speak."

"And Jake?" Of course Emmett would veer this conversation down a more uncomfortable road.

"What about him?"

"Where is he?"

"He started the fire—" Edward shook his head, "I mean, he started the fight. I don't know where he went." Edward paused when he read Emmett's thoughts, all of which were focusing on Jake's "coming out" during the journey to the hospital.

"What?" Edward asked in agitation.

"The dude was checking you out like you were the finest piece of ass this side of the Mississippi."

Edward ignored the crude analogy. "I don't want to talk about this."

"Come on, what was he thinking?" Emmett insisted.

"Em, for God's sake."

"It's just funny whenever you get your pretty little feathers ruffled, so he must have been thinking pretty dirty stuff right?"

A sound rescued him from Emmett's immature pestering, a groan that came from Seth. The teen's eyes were half-lidded but open, staring at Sam.

"Seth?"

"Where am I?" he asked weakly.

"You're on a sofa right now, at Riley's." Sam, Embry, and even Emmett leaned forward, waiting for a more conscious and alert response, but Seth quickly fell asleep again.

"Did Riley treat him?" Edward asked Emmett, whose mode changed considerably.

"Yeah. The wolf chick sister said he should be fine in a day or so."

"You mean Leah?"

"Yeah. I told her to sleep, that we'd watch over him."

"Are you okay?"

Emmett nodded silently.

"You can talk to me if—"

"I'm fine _Eddie_." Christ did he hate that nickname.

Edward threw his hands up in defeat and started walking away. "I'll talk to you later. Bring up Jake again and I'll keep badgering you about your feelings."

Emmett waved him off with a muted chuckle. Edward decided to check up on Angela and Eric, both of whom looked considerably better since he brought them here. They were nibbling on energy bars, laughing happily with Riley and the two strangers Edward noticed earlier. Angela was on the dining room/operating table, getting her the wounds on her shoulder treated while Eric was waiting on a chair next to her.

"How are you two?" Edward asked while leaning on a nearby cabinet.

"Fine, thank you again," Angela said while trying to sit up, but Riley pushed her back down on the table and continued to bandage her cuts.

"For everything. We know you risked a lot to help us," Eric added.

"You must be the vampire everyone's been talking about." An unfamiliar man spoke, and greeted Edward with a bright smile. He was tanned and brawny, a fairly rare sight in the sun-deprived Pacific northwest, with his blonde hair tied into a fairly neat ponytail.

"I'm James, Jamie for short and this here is Victoria," he said tilting his head to the redheaded woman sitting across from him.

"Edward," he responded.

James leaned forward, eyes bristling with interest. "Were they really cannibals?"

Edward groaned. This was not something he wanted to bring up in casual conversation.

"Yes," he answered simply.

"I'm just glad there are more humans here. Treating giant canine anatomy is still a little freaky for my tastes," Riley remarked.

"How did you guys end up with a werewolf pack?" Edward asked as he took a seat on an empty chair.

"We were holed up in a small office building near Olympia," Victoria explained, "we're originally from Vancouver though."

"Just you two?" Edward asked.

"There were more of us that escaped from UBC, but Jamie and I were the only ones willing to go with the wolves."

"They didn't want any of us at first, but I told them that I was studying mechanical engineering and that I could help them out with making weapons," James clarified.

Victoria stood up and sat on James' lap, leaning into a half embrace. "Good thing he was my boyfriend, sociology courses don't really help much in a post-apocalyptic world."

"You weren't with them?" Edward asked Riley.

"Nope, Jake and Paul found me in Tacoma, hiding in my bedroom from a vampire that said I smelled like cotton candy," Riley said with a shudder, as he switched over to tend with Eric's wounds.

"Cotton candy?" James asked, as if he were hearing this for the first time.

"I was out of shampoo and they only had kid's shampoo at the local mart I went to. He kept calling me Sweet Cheeks in this really creepy voice too." James and Victoria immediately broke out in laughter, it was infectious enough that even Eric and Angela joined in.

Edward just smiled and asked Riley, "Do you have what you need?"

"I guess, but who knows how long this'll last. I personally think that your idea of going to that stronghold is our best bet. They're more than definitely stockpiling stuff there."

"Not that Sam would listen to any of us," Victoria said. Her words almost drifted past him. For a moment, Edward actually thought the room started to spin. The lack of blood this past week was starting to wreak vengeance on his body.

"You okay buddy?" James asked.

"Yeah, just a little thirsty." Everyone nearby flinched at his admission.

"Relax," Edward assured them, "I haven't had human blood in over seven decades."

"You're that old?" Angela asked curiously.

Edward nodded. "I'm a baby compared to others though."

"Baby indeed," Victoria added with a lascivious wink.

James looked insulted. "Uh, I'm right here."

Victoria tittered. "What, it's not everyday that three hot guys just waltz into town."

James almost looked like he would drop her. "What am I? The creature from the black lagoon?"

"Yeah," Victoria answered while hugging him, "but you're my hideous creature."

Once his hunger and thirst were full blown pangs, Edward decided it best not to hang around injured humans. "I'm gonna take a walk, I'll see you guys later."

Heading back outside helped ease the thirst somewhat. Jasper was nowhere in sight, and only a few shifters were walking about on patrol. What caught Edward's eye was Jake, sitting on the front porch of a house at the far end of the street. He sat on the railing, legs swinging lackadaisically like a bored child's. Edward argued with himself on whether to approach or just walk around the neighborhood aimlessly. He ultimately chose the former.

"What do you want?" Jake asked as Edward climbed the steps.

"Mind if I sit?" Jake just shrugged his shoulders. Edward took a seat on the sturdy wooden railing, and stared off into the distance.

"Is Jasper gay?" Jake suddenly asked. Well, that caught Edward off guard.

"He has a wife," Edward answered.

"There have been plenty of gay guys who get married."

"No, he's not."

"Bi then?"

"I don't know."

"So he just said all that to piss me off?"

Edward waited a second or so before speaking. "Probably. He's still a bit angry about the arrow in the leg deal."

"Look, everything's just been building up inside me and when Quil told me what he saw, I lost it."

"Is Paul really that special to you?"

"He's the only family I have left. I mean, in terms of being my would be brother-in-law."

"Would be?"

"He was supposed to marry my sister." The word sister brought up a slew of images and thoughts in Jake's head. Most were spiteful and full of pain, so Edward didn't venture any further.

"I always had a crush on him," Jake said with a wistful smile, "even when he imprinted her. For a while, I hated her. I kept telling myself that she took him away from me, even though he was never mine to begin with."

Jake started to laugh. "What kind of fucked up logic was that?"

"Human," Edward said.

"When she died, it's like a part of him went with her. Whenever he smiles or jokes, I can tell he forces it. A year ago, I would have done anything to get them to break up. Now I just wish she were here so he doesn't have to keep hurting anymore."

"I'm not trying to defend whatever he might have done with Paul, but Jasper isn't well either. His wife, yes she's still alive. But he knows that he'll never see her again, and for a relationship that lasted seventy years, that pain is impossible to deal with." Edward knew his defense was a feeble one, hell, it may well have been a lie. Jasper was probably making everyone else feel miserable just because _he_ was. Still, Jake's confession deserved a decent answer or at least an explanation.

"Sometimes I don't know who he is anymore, and if he thinks I'm looking in his head, he bombards me with the worst possible images to keep me out." Edward could still see the sick images of war and death that Jasper used as a mental barrier.

Jake turned to him with a frail smile. "Thanksgiving and Christmas must be fun with your family."

Edward smiled in return. "You don't know the half of it."

Jake closed his eyes, covered his face with his hands and inhaled. "Everything is just so fucked up now."

If there were ever a motto for anyone left alive today, that would be it.

Silence descended on them rather quickly, with neither he or Jake willing to strike up a new conversation. They didn't have much reason to anyway, because soon Sam was jogging towards them.

"Jake, we're having a meeting on what to do next. Get to my place."

Sam turned to Edward next. "You too."

"Me?"

"Someone needs to represent you and your brothers." Being a part of a meeting between shapeshifters, this would definitely not end well. Still, Edward said nothing as he followed the two wolves back to Sam's house.

Once they were in Sam's living room, Edward finally saw how large this pack really was, if these were just the representatives of each family. There were about a dozen people gathered inside, most of them either middle-aged or older. There were two women, one of whom he recognized as Embry's mother Tiffany. The rest were unknown entities.

"What's going on here Sam? We're a bit busy right now," an elder man asked.

"The girl we met outside, Angela, told us that those militiamen are using Portland as their main headquarters. I think it would be a good idea to look down there. Our supplies are low and we all knew this neighborhood was a temporary hideout anyway."

"How do you even know if she's telling the truth?" a different voice asked.

"She is, I could see her thoughts," Edward said almost unconsciously. Once all the shifters centered their attention to him, Edward knew it was a costly mistake.

"Who is that?" The guy who asked that question was enormous, standing at least a few inches above Edward's six foot frame. His biceps and arms were covered in tattoos, not to mention as thick as tree trunks. The hate and contempt on his face only added to the menacing aura. Edward didn't want to imagine what kind of wolf he could turn into.

"Everyone, this is Edward. He'll be accompanying us for a bit," Sam said matter-of-factly.

The giant man stood up from his seat and pointed threateningly at Edward. "You're letting these vampires stay with us?"

"Without these vampires, Seth and Embry might have been killed," Jake countered in a low voice that sounded almost like a growl.

Another pack member stood up. "From what I heard, they attacked those two in the first place."

"Enough everyone," Sam declared.

"Not enough! Did you already forget why we are even shifters in the first place? Because his kind roamed around the Earth murdering innocent people," the giant man yelled, getting more than a few approving comments from the rest of the pack.

"I haven't killed an innocent in my life," Edward responded.

The giant man just sneered at him. "And we should believe you why?"

Edward almost yelped when Jake tugged him back by the hem of his shirt. Jake moved past him and confronted the giant without any visible trepidation in his body. They stood just a foot apart from one another, their bodies frozen in confrontational stances.

The giant man looked at Edward, then back at Jake again. "Why don't we put it to a vote then, since this whole system was your idea Black."

"If he wants to stay, he stays. I am more than willing to maim you to make my point _Carson_."

"I would break your spine before you even lay a scratch on me."

"Carson," Sam warned, "that's enough."

Their face-off ended when Jake strode to the center of the room and faced the rest of the shifters. "What other choice do you guys have? You all see a dangerous vampire, I see a guy who's willing to help us survive just a bit longer. Which do you think is better for us, for your children?"

Edward now felt like a prisoner, and Jake was his lawyer trying to persuade the jury. As flattering as Jake's intentions were, the final result was not a pleasant feeling.

"You wanna know what I think?" Carson suddenly asked with a grin. "I think you're just hard for him."

Jake was about to throw a punch until Sam commanded him to stop, just before it connected. Carson didn't quiver, not even when Jake's knuckles were about an inch from his face. In fact, he had a complacent smirk that was making even Edward angry.

"Maybe I should go—" Edward tried to say but Sam silenced him.

"You've proven your worth, you and your brothers. That should be enough for everyone standing this room. If it isn't, then they'll have to deal with me." If Jake's excessive defense didn't make everyone's jaw drop, Sam's did.

Carson scoffed as he took back his seat on the large leather sofa. "You've gone off the deep end Sam."

"So did the rest of the goddamn planet," Sam snapped back. "If working with vampires ensures the survival of our people, then I don't see where anyone can disagree. Now can we get back to our previous discussion?"

"You mean the suicide mission?" Carson asked bitterly.

Yet another member stood up. "Carson has a point Sam. You're asking us to take fifty people, half of whom are women and children, to face off against an army?"

"That's where my brothers and I come in handy then," Edward interjected. "You won't have to risk much, we can do the work for you."

Jasper and Emmett would not be happy when they'd hear this, but that was a problem at another time. For some reason, procrastination felt good right now.

"What about Seth? We can't move him right now," Embry's mother said.

"We're going to wait here until everyone is well enough to travel," Sam answered.

"I asked you all to come here not because I want you to fight, but because I don't want anyone to feel like their voice wasn't heard. But now you know the plan. A plan that involves minimal risk, and countless rewards. Rewards that we need Edward's help to get. Since every respective leader is here to represent their family, we're going to handle this with a simple vote.

"For those in favor of heading to Oregon, raise their hands." About three quarters of the room put their hands in the air, Carson and his group of friends unsurprisingly abstained.

"It's decided then. Everyone, dismissed." Carson and friends were the first to leave, followed shortly by everyone else until it was just Sam, Jake, and Edward left in the room. Sam mentioned something about his wife Emily, before asking them to leave. Once they were back outside, Edward watched as Jake started walking away.

"Jake, wait." Edward called out, expecting him to stop or at least acknowledge his request. He didn't. So Edward charged ahead and cut ahead of him.

"Why did you defend me?"

Jake averted his eyes and kept them trained on the floor, a trait that Edward was growing increasingly tired of. When Jake attempted to depart again, Edward latched his hand around Jake's wrist in an attempt to stop him. Instead, they both shuddered from the contact of skin. Hot and cold, it was a brutal contrast. Jake yanked his hand away, but didn't move. His brown eyes were boring into Edward's, filled with so many conflicting emotions that Edward was at a loss on how to help. The answer was, not much.

Jake didn't say a word when he spun around and ran back to his house. He said nothing as he slammed the door, leaving Edward standing in the middle of the street. Edward looked back at his hand, still feeling the warmth tingling through his fingertips.


End file.
